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San Marcos, Texas – In a hard-fought match that was decided in the third set of the final singles match, the Texas State women's tennis team suffered a heart-wrenching 4-3 loss against Sam Houston State in the opening round of the Southland Conference Tournament at Stephen F. Austin's Schlief Tennis Complex on Thursday afternoon.
 
The Bobcats, who went into the match as the second-seeded team in the tournament, was looking to beat the Bearkats for the second time in five days after winning a 5-2 decision last Saturday.
 
However, Thursday's match began in stunning fashion when Mariana Perez and Rachel Baldree suffered their first loss against a SLC opponent in the No. 3 doubles position this season when they dropped an 8-4 decision against Imake Jagau and Olivia Battye.
 
After Jessica Kahts and Melissa Hadad defeated Tatyana Postnikova and Nadia Dubyanskaya 8-2 in the No. 1 match, Sam Houston State captured the team point when Sheridan Currie and Natalie Petaia edged Gabriela Rojas and Bérénice Van den Bergh by a score of 8-5 in the No. 2 match.
 
In singles play, Texas State appeared to regain control of the match when they opened with three straight victories. Kahts scored the first point for the Bobcats when she defeated Jagau in straight sets with a 6-2, 6-3 victory.
 
Then, Rojas put Texas State ahead with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Petaia in the No. 3 match. The Bobcats won their third singles match when Baldree defeated Postnikova in the No. 4 match by a score of 4-6, 6-1, 6-1.
 
However, the Texas State couldn't win the elusive fourth match as the Bearkats won the next three decisions. Perez fell in the No. 5 match by a score of 6-3, 6-3 against Dubyanskaya and Van den Bergh suffered a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 setback in her No. 6 match versus Battye.
 
The final match was a hard-fought battle in which both Hadad and Currie fought back and forth throughout the entire three sets. Currie won the first set 6-4, before Hadad fought her way back into contention by winning the second set by the score of 7-5. However, Currie won the third and final set by a score of 6-4 to give Sam Houston the upset victory.
 
The loss drops Texas State's record to 14-6 this season, while Sam Houston State improves to 12-8 this year. The Bearkats will meet defending SLC Tournament champion UT Arlington in a semifinal match on Friday afternoon after the Mavericks defeated Lamar 4-0.