A&M-Corpus Christi, Central Arkansas Claim Spots in Conference Championship
Southland Conference
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BEAUMONT, Texas - No. 1 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi will get its chance to repeat as Southland Conference Tournament champions as the Islanders are set to take on No. 3 Central Arkansas after the two teams won Saturday's semifinals at the Beaumont Municipal Tennis Center in Beaumont, Texas.
Sunday's championship is slated for 2 p.m.
No. 1 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs. No. 5. New Orleans
Leading 3-1 in the match with New Orleans rallying on courts three and five, the top flight between Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's Hortense Boscher and the Privateers' Trang Dao headed into a tiebreaker in the third set. Dao had fended off two match points before Boscher sent a winner to punch her team's ticket to Sunday's championship. Boscher had won the first set 6-2 before Dao returned the favor with the same score.
Boscher's win proved pivotal for her squad as the No. 3 flight was into the third set with the Privateers' Anna Segarra Rius leading 5-3 while New Orleans' Yasmine Rashad was at a 5-5 tie in the third set with the Islanders' Maria Maldonado.
Judit Vives and Marina Vicens Miquel defeated their opponents at No. 4 and No. 6 singles, respectively, with the same 6-3, 6-2 score. Anna Luethi provided UNO with its lone win, taking the No. 2 slot victory 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 on Jelena Dzinic.
The Islanders entered singles competition having won the doubles point in comeback fashion on two courts. Boscher and Trigona were down 4-2 at the No. 2 flight but came-from-behind to take a 7-5 victory. Dzinic and Vives had a bigger deficit to overcome. Down 5-1 in the top flight to Rius and Luethi, the Islanders rallied six straight points to earn the 1-0 lead.
No. 2 Lamar vs. No. 3 Central Arkansas
For the second straight match, Central Arkansas' Marli Van Heerden clinched her singles match to advance the Sugar Bears.
Van Heerden's win at the No. 5 slot gave her team the 4-2 win over No. 2 Lamar and a spot in the Southland Women's Tennis Tournament championship for the first time in program history. She ended the match with a 6-2 defeat in the third set after taking the opening set 6-3.
The first victory in singles for the Sugar Bears came at the top flight at the hands of freshman Pornpawee Pramethong against 2017 Southland Women's Tennis Player of the Year, Katya Lapayeva, in a straight set 6-3, 6-2 victory. Central Arkansas' QiLi Ma provided the 3-0 advantage for her side with at the No. 3 flight, but Lamar strung together wins at the second and sixth flight to make the score 3-2.
Lamar's Sanja Jolic was leading 4-1 in the third set at No. 4 singles before Van Heerden was able to put the match away for the Sugar Bears and Jolic's match unfinished.
Central Arkansas head coach Casey Wharton stressed the importance of his squad securing the doubles point and heading into the singles matches with that lead. The Sugar Bears dropped the No. 1 doubles match but was able to claim the win at the No. 3 flight. It took a 7-5 win in the tiebreaker for Central Arkansas' Ma and Rada Manataweet to send the Sugar Bears into singles ahead in the match.
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