Match Statistics

San Marcos, Texas – The Texas State women's tennis team fought valiantly in singles play but came up short as the Bobcats suffered a 4-3 loss against Houston on Sunday afternoon at the Bobcat tennis complex.   
 
Playing their fourth match in five days, Texas State also had to bounce back and play the day after defeating UT Arlington in a Southland Conference match for the first time since 1991.
 
It proved to be a daunting task as the Bobcats opened the match losing the team doubles point for just the second time in 13 matches this season.
 
The day began with Texas State's No. 1 tandem of Jessica Kahts and Melissa Hadad dropping an 8-6 decision against Giorgia Pozzan and Celia Fraser despite leading 5-4 earlier in the match.
 
“It was a close match, but they are a clever team,” said Kahts. “They took advantage of our only slipup and went on to win.”
 
Houston captured the doubles point when its No. 2 team of Liselot Koenen and Laura Ring defeated Bérénice Van den Bergh and Francesca Bernes by the same score of 8-6.
 
Texas State's Rachel Baldree and Mariana Perez won the No. 3 doubles match by the score of 9-8 after they outscored Maja Kazimieruk and Charlotte Phillips 7-1 in the tiebreaker.
 
“I felt that we weren't mentally ready to play during our doubles matches,” said Texas State head coach Tory Plunkett. “I challenged the team to show me how tough they were in singles and I felt they did.”
 
Kahts and Hadad bounced back from the doubles loss and won both of their singles matches. Kahts recorded a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Pozzan in the No. 1 match, and Hadad outlasted Fraser 6-3, 6-4 in the No. 2 match.
 
“I was physically and mentally drained after yesterday's victory,” said Kahts. “I tried to stay focused and concentrated on playing each shot and winning each point one at a time.”
 
Bernes also recorded a victory in the No. 5 match against Koenen when she won a 6-1, 6-2 decision.
 
Houston won the other three singles matches to clinch the victory for the Cougars, who improved to 9-6 this season.
 
Bryony Hunter won the No. 3 match against Baldree by the score of 6-1, 3-6, 6-0, while Phillips won the No. 4 match over Perez by a score of 6-1, 6-0. In the No. 6 match, Kazimieruk defeated Van den Bergh by a score of 6-3, 6-4.
 
“This was a tough loss with one of our top players (Gabriela Rojas) sitting out the match,” said Plunkett. “But, I was very proud of the fight and toughness we showed in singles.”
 
The loss drops Texas State's record to 10-3 this season. The Bobcats return to Southland Conference play next Saturday and Sunday, March 31 and April 1 when Texas State travels to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday and to UTSA on Sunday.