SAN MARCOS, Texas – In a match in which the final outcome was decided by a third-set tiebreaker, the Texas State women's tennis team took advantage of some unexpected fan support and edged I-35 rival UTSA by a score of 4-3 Thursday afternoon at the Bobcat Tennis Complex.
 
"We had our softball team and some athletics administrators come out and watch us play today," said head coach Tory Plunkett. "UTSA is probably a little better team right now on paper so having them out here really inspired us."
 
The Bobcats jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the match when they won a pair of doubles matches to capture the team point and Katy Collins won her singles match on the No. 6 court.
 
Texas State won the doubles point when seniors Monica Pieratt and Shannon Beckett defeated Lina Hallgren and Daniela Garcia Diaz by a score of 6-2. Then, Pippa Carr and Ana Laura Gutierrez defeated Nicole Karaklis and Alena Shichkova by a score of 6-4 in the No. 2 match.
 
The top doubles match between Texas State's Eva Dench and Collins and UTSA's Miriam Rosell Canudas and Jacobea Junger was tied at 4-4 before it was halted after the doubles point was decided.
 
Then Collins won a 6-0, 6-1 decision against Irene Gandara Gonzalez before UTSA won the next three singles matches.
 
First, Junger defeated Pieratt by a score of 6-1, 6-3 in the No. 2 match before Rosell Canudas beat Gutierrez by a 6-2, 6-2 margin on the No. 1 court and Karaklis won a 6-2, 7-5 decision over Dench on the No. 4 court.
 
The Bobcats came back to tie the team score 3-3 after Beckett posted her sixth consecutive victory in singles matches after beating Hallgren by a score of 6-3, 7-6 in the No. 5 match. In that match, there were three lead changes in the second set before Beckett tied the score at 6-6 to force a tiebreaker.
 
In the tiebreaker, Hallgren earned the first point before Beckett seized control and won four consecutive points to take a 4-1 lead. She went on to capture the tiebreaker by a score of 7-2 to win the match.
 
The final match of the day came on the No. 3 court where Carr looked to have things well in hand after winning the first set 6-0 and jumping out to an early 3-0 lead in the second set. But, Shichkova won four straight points and came back to win the second set by a score of 7-5 and forcing a third set.
 
The two players continued battling back and forth throughout the third set that featured three lead changes and five ties with the final tie coming a 6-6 and forcing a tiebreaker. After Shichkova jumped out to 4-3 in the tiebreaker before Carr fought back to capture four of the next five points to win the third-set tiebreaker by a score of 7-5 and clinch the victory for the Bobcats.
 
The victory improves Texas State's overall record to 7-6 and 5-1 in home matches this season. The Bobcats close out the regular season this Saturday afternoon when they host Midwestern State beginning at 12:30 p.m. at the Bobcat Tennis Complex.