Monroe, La. – The Texas State women's tennis team won its second straight match and posted its fourth win in the last six contests when the Bobcats defeated Arkansas State, 4-1, at Raymond Heard Stadium on Friday morning.
Playing their first match against a Sun Belt Conference team this season, Texas State jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when the Bobcats won a pair of doubles matches to capture the team point.
Ana Perez and
Julia Navajo-Melendez gave Texas State an early advantage when they combined to beat Shelby King and Shannon O'Brien on the No. 2 court.
The Bobcats earned the team point when
Joy Chia Ming Ming and
Sofia Murcia-Rodriguez teamed up to beat Kirsty Venter and Sabina Jeresic by a score of 6-3 in the No. 3 doubles match.
Texas State continued the momentum in singles action when the Bobcats won three of the four decisions. First, Israel-Lewis defeated Anita Detlava by a score of 6-0, 6-3 in the No. 2-seeded match.
Then,
Alex Jones posted a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Berta Masdevall Massip on the No. 4 court before Perez dropped a 6-4, 6-2 decision against King in the top-seeded match.
Andrea Fuchs clinched the victory for the Bobcats when she won a 6-3, 6-3 decision against Venter on the No. 6 court. It marks the second straight match in which Fuchs has scored the deciding point after clinching the victory over CSUN on March 16.
The victory improves Texas State's record to 4-9 this season while Arkansas State falls to 4-10. The Bobcats will be looking for their third straight win and fifth victory in the last seven outings when the play Louisiana in another neutral site match at Heard Stadium. That match has been moved up an hour and is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.
Louisiana enters Saturday's match with a 10-6 overall record after dropping a 4-0 decision at Houston on March 12 and recording a pair of 4-0 victories at Prairie View A&M on March 10. The Ragin' Cajuns also play at intrastate rival ULM on Sunday.
