SHERMAN, TX – The Austin College Kangaroo Women's Tennis Team served up a 6-3 win against the Crusaders from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.
"We played great," said Head Coach Ryan Dodd. We came out fresh and unfazed, ready to compete and confident that what we had to bring was good enough."
And it was. The 'Roos gained a 2-1 lead after doubles when Meghan White and Grace Ortiz avenging a loss at Line 1 Doubles from earlier in the year 8-5.
AC took that lead and never looked back during singles play. Many 'Roos got the opportunity to see the same player they faced just one month earlier.
Meghan White won in decisive fashion 6-2, 6-1 and played some of the best tennis she had all year; gritty, determined, aggressive, percentage tennis. Grace Ortiz got her first win at Line 2 singles for the 'Roos and took the first set to a tiebreaker. Without losing a point in the breaker, Ortiz moved on to win 7-6 (0), 6-2.
Anamariia Kheveli reaffirmed the progress she has made over the course of the season, working to a 6-2, 6-2 win over Haley Hicks. Kheveli has faced Hicks 3 times this year, and is now 2-1 in the series after falling in straight sets to her in the fall.
"We are getting better and in a lot of ways we are staying the same," says Coach Dodd. "This was a great opportunity to see if we could play this team; a team that fought us tooth and nail for our win earlier this year, any better than we did earlier this year. We did and actually found an extra court that we did not before. But now we have to do what we have needed to do all along, which is take this win and use it to find a way to compete against some other teams that beat us if we see them again. We need to continue to grow."
Austin College returns to the Elizabeth Russell Tennis Center tomorrow, April 11 at 3:00pm to face Southwestern Christian University.
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Austin College 6, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor 3
April 10, 2015
Sherman, TX
Elizabeth Russell Tennis Complex
Singles
1. Meghan White (AC) def. A. Juaneza 6-2, 6-1
2. Grace Ortiz (AC) def. L. Ostroff (UMHB) 7-6 (0), 6-2
3. Anamariia Kheveli (AC) def. Haley Hicks 6-2, 6-2
4. Sarah Sedory (UMHB) def. Carlye Lide 6-2, 6-3
5. Paola Nunez (UMHB) def. Magan Green (AC) 2-6, 7-6 (5), 1-0 (7)
6. Katie Barber (AC) def. Katie Pilgram (UMHB) 6-3, ret.
Doubles
1. White/Ortiz (AC) def. Juaneza/Hicks (UMHB) 8-5
2. Ostroff/Sedory (UMHB) def. Green/Kheveli 8-4
3. Barber/Lide (AC) def. Nunez/Pilgram (UMHB) 8-1
Match Notes
Austin College: 3-4 (0-3)
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor: 6-6
Order of Finish: Doubles (3, 2, 1) Singles (6, 1, 3, 2, 4, 5)