SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State women's tennis team won their fourth match of the season when the Bobcats edged Missouri State 4-3 Sunday afternoon at the Bobcat Tennis Complex.
Texas State (4-5) began the day capturing the team doubles point by winning two of three doubles matches. First,
Joy Chia Ming Ming and
Rishona Israel-Lewis shut out Alye Darter and Mara Presot by a score of 6-0 on the No. 2 court. Then,
Ana Perez and
Julia Navajo-Melendez defeated Anna Alons and Ellie Burger by a score of 6-2 in the top-seeded match to clinch the team doubles point.
The Bobcats also won four singles matches to clinch the victory. Israel-Lewis gave Texas State a 2-0 lead when she opened singles play with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Darter in the No. 2-seeded match.
Phoebe Boeschen scored Missouri State's first point when she won the No. 5 singles match against
Sofia Murcia-Rodriguez in the three sets (6-1, 0-6, 6-3).
Andrea Fuchs gave Texas State a 3-1 lead in the team score when she won the No. 6 singles match in three sets. Fuchs captured the first set (7-6) after winning a tiebreaker 7-4. After Burger won the second set by a score of 7-5, Fuchs came back to win the third set by a score of 6-2.
The Bears closed to within 3-2 after Navajo-Melendez fell in three sets against Fati Khamissi on the No. 3 court. Navajo-Melendez won the first set by a score of 6-4, but Khamissi won the second set (6-2) and a third-set tiebreaker (7-5) to win the match.
Perez clinched the victory for Texas State on the No. 1 court when she won the top-seeded match over Alons in three sets. Perez overcame a 4-1 deficit in the first set and tied the score at 6-6, forcing a tiebreaker, which she won 9-7. After Alons came back to win the second set (6-2), Perez clinched the victory winning the third set by a score of 6-4.
Clara Gand-Gonzalez scored the final point for Missouri State with a three-set triumph over Chia Ming Ming (7-5, 2-6, 6-1).
The victory improves Texas State's record to 4-5 this season, while Missouri State fell to 7-6. The Bobcats open Sun Belt Conference play with a pair of road matches at Troy on Mar. 16 and at South Alabama on Mar. 17.
