VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 20 Valdosta State women's tennis team had a chance to upset No. 17 Lynn Friday afternoon on Senior Day, but came up just short in 4-3 loss. The Blazers close the regular season Saturday at 11 a.m. versus Tampa at the VSU Tennis Complex.
Prior to the match, VSU honored two outstanding seniors in
Lena Beckx and
Carmelle Vial. VSU Athletics wishes both of these seniors the best in their future endeavors.
In doubles, Blazer duo of
Kitti Nemeth and Vial downed Hailey Lizano and Jessica Franke, 6-1, while Lynn's top duo of
Lea Cakarevic and Meadow Garcia won 6-2 over Beckx and
Milica Prokic. Coming down to the final match, Lynn's No. 2 tandem of Salma Djoubri and Kristen Younes battled back from a 5-3 deficit to win 7-6 (7-2) to clinch the team point for the Fighting Knights. It marked just the fifth time VSU has lost the doubles point this season.
VSU leveled the match with a 6-0, 6-1 win from Nemeth at No. 6 over Franke, while VSU took a 2-1 lead with a win from No. 58
Ivana Castillo Hurtado at No. 3 with a 6-2, 5-0 win by retirement over Garcia, ranked No. 46. Djoubri downed Beckx at No. 1, 6-2, 6-2 for a 2-2 score, but the Blazers took the lead, once again, with a 6-4, 7-5 win from Vial at No. 5. Cakarevic won 6-0, 7-6 (7-2) at No. 4 singles over
Charleigh Fay to even the match.
In the final match at No. 2, Prokic dropped the first set to Younes, ranked No. 53, 6-2, but responded with a 6-3 win in the second set and battled back for a 4-4 third set. She then took a 6-5 lead, but Younes sent the set to a tiebreaker. Younes would win the tiebreaker 7-2 to clinch the match.
The Blazers fell to 9-8 overall and will host Tampa on Saturday to close the regular season, before turning their sights to the Gulf South Conference Championship set for Apr. 23-25 in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The Blazers are the No. 4-seed and will battle No. 5-seed Lee on Apr. 23 at 6 p.m. ET.
