SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State once again found the win column in its match against South Florida on Friday. The Bobcats battled back from an early deficit to beat the Bulls 4-3 and earned their second win of the season.

"I am just so darn proud of our team today," said Texas State head coach Kendall Brooks. "It was a very gritty, hard-fought, competitive match, and it feels good to come out on top. They never quit, they stayed composed, they were so tough. We talked at the beginning of the year about what kind of team we wanted to be, and we showed exactly who we want to be today."

Texas State 4 (2-3, 0-0 Sun Belt) at USF 3 (0-4, 0-0 AAC) | 11 a.m. CT | USF Varsity Tennis Complex
The Bobcats dropped the doubles point to begin the match against USF but battled back to defeat the Bulls in a hard-fought 4-3 victory. The match featured four singles bouts that went into the third set, including the match on court No. 3, where Sofia Fortuno clinched the winning point for the Bobcats with a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 victory over USF's Sienna Leeson.

Doubles
The pair of Kiana Graham and Callie Creath stayed undefeated in doubles play and were the only Bobcats to win their doubles match against USF. On court No. 3, they defeated the USF pair of Charlotte Rudd and Karine Kulidijan 6-1.

Graham and Creath moved to 4-0 on the season.

Despite winning on court three, the Bobcats dropped the doubles point after the Bulls secured wins on courts one and two.

Singles
After falling short in doubles, the Bobcats stayed focused and went on to win the match through singles play. On court No. 5, Emily Niers tied the match 1-1 with a straight-set victory over USF's Dharani Niroshan, 6-4, 7-5.

Shortly after, USF regained the lead when Texas State's Tadiwa Mauchi fell in three sets on court No. 4, 0-6, 6-4, 3-6. The freshman fought hard in all three sets but came up just short in the third.

After falling behind 2-1, the Bobcats surged to a 4-2 lead to secure the win. The third point came on court No. 2, where Callie Creath won in three sets, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, earning her second win of the season.

Former USF player turned Bobcat Ireland Simme earned Texas State's third point against her former team. Simme fell 7-6 (6) in the first set but responded with 6-3 wins in the second and third sets to give the Bobcats the lead.

Veteran Bobcat Sofia Fortuno sealed the victory for Texas State on court No. 3 in a match that came down to the third set. Fortuno won the first set 6-2, dropped the second 4-6, and found herself tied 5-5 in the third set with the match on the line. She defeated USF's Leeson 7-5 in the final set to secure the Bobcats' second win of the season.

Kiana Graham played on court No. 1 and finished her match against the Bulls' Melisa Sneli. Graham put up a fight in both sets but fell 7-6 (3), 5-7, making the final score 4-3 in favor of Texas State.

Texas State faces Florida A&M on Saturday at 9 a.m. CT.
 
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