SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State women's tennis team fell to ULM 4-3 in a conference dual match Sunday afternoon at the Bobcat Tennis Complex. Texas State fell to 5-8 overall and 1-3 in Sun Belt Conference play. ULM improved to 8-1 overall and 3-0 in the Sun Belt.
 
The Bobcats jumped out to an early 2-0 lead when they captured the doubles point and Rishona Israel-Lewis won her singles match in straight sets 6-0, 6-1 on court two.
 
Texas State earned the doubles point after winning two of three matches, which were all decided by 7-5 scores.  Sofia Murcia-Rodriguez and Andrea Fuchs defeated Jimena Garbino and Florencia Salerno 7-5 on court 3. ULM got back into contention for the team point when Israel-Lewis and Joy Chia Ming Ming suffered a loss against Sivani Manjanna and Angeles Maria Cueto on court two. Texas State won the point when Ana Perez and Julia Navajo-Melendez defeated Tiffany Phaysouphan and Emilia Alfaro in the top-seeded match.
 
After Israel-Lewis won her singles match against Phaysouphan, ULM won three straight singles matches to take a 3-2 lead. Murcia-Rodriguez suffered a 6-1, 6-0 loss against Cueto on court five, and Navajo-Melendez fell 6-3, 6-2 against Manjanna in the No. 3 match. The third point came when Fuchs suffered a three-set loss 6-1, 2-6, 6-2 against Salerno on court six.
 
The Bobcats were able to even the score at 3-3 when Chia Ming Ming won the final two sets in her match and defeated Garbino on court four by a score of 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
 
That set up a battle on center court between Perez and Alfaro. Perez won the first set tiebreaker 7-2 to capture the first set by a score of 7-6. After falling 6-3 in the second set, Perez began having muscle cramps in her right leg. Despite the limitations, she came back from a 4-1 deficit to tie the score at 5-5.  But, Alfaro captured the final two points to win the match for ULM's fourth point.
 
Texas State returns to action next Saturday and Sunday when the Bobcats travel to Georgia State on Mar. 30 and Georgia Southern on Mar. 31.