April 26, 2008

Results

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Lamar University women's tennis team rolled over the Northwestern State Lady Demons 4-0 in the semifinals of the Southland Conference tournament at the Schleif Tennis Complex on the campus of Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches, Texas.

The Lady Cardinals started the match by winning the doubles point with victories at one and two, while the match at No. 3 went unfinished. Andrea Martinez and Mariaryeni Gutierrez took down NSU's Bogusia Patzer and Daniela Posada 8-2 at No. 1 while Maria Gutierrez and Manijee Ashrafi combined for an 8-4 win over Kathrin Lange and Bianca Schulz at No. 2.

In singles play LU picked up wins in the top two spots and a win at No. 5 while the other three matches went unfinished. Andrea Martinez picked up the first singles point for the Lady Cards with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Patzer at No. 1 and Manami Kuroda followed with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Daniela Posada at No. 5. Mariaryeni Gutierrez sealed the victory with a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 2 to improve to 24-0 on the year.

"We played a great match as a team today," head coach David Wong said. "I said it the first time we played Northwestern State, and I'll say it again; they have a very talented team. They are going to be a very tough team over the next several years.

"As for our performance, these ladies continue to play great tennis as they have all season long. Manami (Kuroda) played huge for us today. Salina Aranda went out with an injury and Manami stepped in at the five spot and won her match in straight sets. Now we have a rematch with Southeastern Louisiana and I expect it to be another tightly contested battle."

Saturday's win gives Lamar a 23-2 record on the year and advances them to the championship match on Sunday morning at 10:00 against Southeastern Louisiana. The last time the Lady Cards and the Lady Lions met was on April 4 when SELA handed Lamar a 5-2 loss at the Cardinals Courts in Beaumont.