April 3, 2008

BEAUMONT - The Lamar University women's tennis team will put its 6-0 Southland Conference record to the test Saturday afternoon when they host defending conference champion Southeastern Louisiana at noon at the Cardinal Courts.

The Lady Cardinals enter the match with a 17-1 overall record and a 6-0 mark in Southland Conference play, having won 15 straight matches. Their only loss of the year came on the opening weekend of competition when they dropped a 5-2 decision to nationally ranked Rice University in Houston.

Attendance to Saturday's match, and all matches played at the Cardinal Courts, is free. Free pizza, hot dogs and Gatorade will be available to everyone in attendance and Lady Cardinal Tennis T-shirts will be given away to the first 100 fans.

"We are having a great season and this is a very important match for us," head coach David Wong said. "Southeastern Louisiana has a great team and they've been the team to beat in this league for the last couple of years. We know we are going to have a fight on our hands and hopefully we'll have a big crowd on hand to cheer us on."

The Lady Cards enter the weekend on the heels of two victories over traditional junior college powerhouse programs Lee College and Laredo Community College. Lamar dropped Lee, the defending NJCAA national champion, 6-1 on Tuesday afternoon at the Cardinal Courts and took out Laredo Saturday afternoon 4-1 in San Antonio after they had defeated UTSA in the morning.

The scores from the Laredo match and the Lee College match are listed below.

Southeastern comes into Saturday's match with a 12-2 overall record and a 5-0 record in SLC play. They have won 10 straight matches, with their last loss coming at Mississippi State on February 19.

The Lady Lions have not lost a Southland Conference match in over two years and have only lost once in conference play in the last three years. Their last SLC loss was on March 6, 2005 when they fell to UT-Arlington 5-2 in Arlington.

After the showdown with Southeastern the Lady Cardinals will be back in action on Sunday morning at 11 a.m. when they host the Nicholls State Lady Colonels at the Cardinal Courts. Before Sunday's match begins the lone senior on the team, Andrea Martinez, will be honored in a senior-day ceremony.

March 29, 2008 - Laredo Community College
Singles
1. Jessica Mezo (LCC) def. Andrea Martinez (LU-W) 6-2, 4-1, retired
2. Mariaryeni Gutierrez (LU-W) def. Loriane Favoretto (LCC) 6-3, 6-1
3. Maria Gutierrez (LU-W) vs. Cisse Drame (LCC) 7-6, 3-2, unfinished
4. Manijee Ashrafi (LU-W) def. Karen Rodriguez (LCC) 6-1, 6-1
5. Salina Aranda (LU-W) def. Natalie Ramos (LCC) 6-0, 6-0
6. Anahita Jagtiani (LU-W) def. Ashley Hernandez (LCC) 6-0, 6-0

April 1, 2008 - Lee College
Singles
1. Natalie Araya (LC) def. Andrea Martinez (LU-W) 3-4, retired
2. Mariaryeni Gutierrez (LU-W) def. Anna Djananova (LC) 6-1, 6-0
3. Maria Gutierrez (LU-W) def. Stephanie Rodriquez (LC) 6-0, 6-0
4. Manijee Ashrafi (LU-W) def. Chelsea Creed (LC) 6-0, 6-0
5. Salina Aranda (LU-W) def. Andrea Villasana (LC) 6-1, 6-2
6. Manami Kuroda (LU-W) def. Adriana Hernandez (LC) 6-4, 6-4

Doubles
1. Andrea Martinez/Mariaryeni Gutierrez (LU-W) def. Natalie Araya/Anna Djananova (LC) 8-1
2. Maria Gutierrez/Manijee Ashrafi (LU-W) def. Stephanie Rodriquez/Adriana Hernandez (LC) 8-2
3. Kaltrina Harbuzi/Salina Aranda (LU-W) def. Andrea Villasana/Chelsea Creed (LC) 8-0