Sam Houston State University defeated Louisiana-Monroe 5-1 Sunday afternoon to complete a sweep of two Southland Conference women’s tennis matches this weekend.
The Bearkats started the weekend Saturday with a 6-1 win over Northwestern State.
Sunday’s match was played indoors at The Woodlands Country Club due to rain. Doubles were not played Sunday.
The two victories give Sam Houston State a 7-6 season mark and a 3-2 Southland Conference record.
Irina Sotnikova, Lata Assudani, Emma McDougall, Peta Taylor and Cristina Flores all won their singles matches in the Louisiana-Monroe victory. Dainy Sithimorada handed the Bearkats their only loss of the day, beating Brooke Mills at number three singles.
“These were two big wins for us,” head coach Scott Shankles said. “Louisiana-Monroe is a very strong team with a lot of fight in them. The score does not indicate how close this match was for us. Once again we played a complete match from every position. We knew coming into the match that Monroe was on a winning streak and we needed to step up when it counted and we did. There were so many huge situations today from all the girls, but Peta being the clinching match was great. She has struggled a bit as of late, but she showed a lot of maturity and fight today. She is for sure a better player today with her effort and win. I’m so proud of this team, we really played great.”
“Next weekend is going to be the same as today. We play two very good programs against UTSA and Texas State. With this win, we will be ready.”
Sam Houston State takes to the road next weekend, traveling west for two big Southland Conference matches. The Bearkats will tackle Texas-San Antonio on Saturday and Texas State-San Marcos on Sunday. Both matches will begin at 10 a.m.