NORTHRIDGE, CALIF. - In a match that was decided by a doubles point, the Texas State women's tennis team posted their second road victory of the season with a 4-3 triumph over CSUN on Friday afternoon at the Matador Tennis Complex.
The victory allows the Bobcats to split a pair of road matches in California and marks the second straight win that Texas State has split a pair of road matches. The Bobcats also split a pair of matches against UTSA and Incarnate Word in San Antonio on March 4 before dropping a decision at San Diego yesterday.
With rain threatening Friday's match, the contest began with the two teams playing six singles matches to try and determine the outcome. However, both teams battled back and forth, with each team winning three matches, and were forced to play the three doubles matches.
The Matadors jumped out to an early lead when
Joy Chia Ming Ming dropped a 6-2, 6-1 decision against Arpe Bagumyan on the number five court.
Texas State evened the team score at 1-1 when
Rishona Israel-Lewis defeated Monika Van de Vondel by a score of 6-2, 6-1 in the No. 2 match.
CSUN regained the lead when
Julia Navajo-Melendez fell 6-3, 7-5 in her No. 3 match against Alicia Dinkelmeyer.
The Bobcats countered again when
Ana Perez won the top seeded match against Skyla Alcon in three sets. Perez dropped the first set 6-0, before coming back to win the last two sets by scores of 6-4, 6-3.
The Matadors had a chance to win the match after
Alex Jones fell in a hard-fought No. 5 match against Mari Taslagyan. Jones dropped the first set 7-6 when she lost the tiebreaker, 7-5, and fell in the second set, 7-5.
However,
Andrea Fuchs answered the challenge by winning her No. 6 match against Scout Shutter by a score of 6-3, 6-2 to tie the team score at 3-3.
The Bobcats clinched the victory by winning two of the three doubles matches. Texas State gained an advantage for the first time when Jones and Israel-Lewis won a 6-4 decision over Alcorn and Van de Vondel in the top-seeded match.
The Bobcats won the match when Chia Ming Ming and
Sofia Murcia-Rodriguez combined for a 6-4 victory over Bagumyan and Emma Roenholt in the No. 3 match to clinch the doubles point for Texas State.
In the final doubles match Perez and Navajo-Melendez dropped their No. 2 match against Dinkelmeyer and Taslagyan by a score of 7-5.
The victory improves Texas State's record to 3-9 overall this season, while CSUN fell to 2-6 this spring. The Bobcats play their first matches against Sun Belt Conference teams when they face Arkansas State on March 23 and Louisiana on March 24 in Monroe, La.
