Feb. 24, 2008

Hammond, La. The fifth ranked in Division II, West Florida (0-4), is off a tough season start. The Argonauts suffered its fourth loss of the season to Division I opponent Southeastern Louisiana (4-2) on Sunday. The Lady Lions blanked the Argonauts 7-0.

Playing under the Division I rules, in which only one point is awarded to the team that wins the doubles clash, and the first team to reach four out of seven points is declared the winner, the Argonauts did not earn a single point. In the doubles action, the Argonauts earned its only victory. In the first doubles spot, the fifth ranked doubles team formed by Argonauts Suzana Cavalcante (junior/Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Paola Arevalo (senior/Cali, Colombia) defeated the team formed by Lady Lions Breda Kovaca and Nina Knavs 8-5. The Argonauts dropped the other two doubles matches. In the second spot Argonauts Taylor Brewster (freshman/Ontaro, Canada) and Tatiana Rodrigues (junior/Sao Paulo, Brazil) only won a single game, falling 8-1. The Argonauts dropped the third doubles point when Renata Mattos (junior/Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Lorena Rebolledo (freshman/Puebla, Mexico) were defeated 8-2, giving the 1-0 lead to the Lady Lions (which would be a 2-1 lead, if played under Division II rules).

In singles, the Lady Lions swept the action, by winning all six matches. In the first spot, Division II nationally ranked third Cavalcante was losing 4-0 in the first set when felt sick and had to withdraw from the match. In the next two positions, the Argonauts had a one set lead, however they were not able to hold the second set and had their matches decided in a third set super tiebreak (played until ten points). In the Second spot, Divison II 45th ranked Arevalo had a well fought battle, unfortunately coming short and falling 3-6, 6-3, 10-5 to the Lady Lions. 43rd ranked, Mattos also fell short in the decisive set, 3-6, 6-1, 10-2. In the fourth spot Brewster only won two games in the match, dropping at 6-1, 6-1. Playing in the fifth position, Rodrigues dropped to the Cougars 6-3, 6-2. Rebolledo also dropped her match in straight sets by a 6-3, 6-0 score, giving the final point to the Lady Lions to finish the match at 7-0.

The Lady Lions improves to a 4-2 record, while the Argonauts dropped to 0-4. The Argonauts will now return to action next week to try to earn its first season victory. The Argonauts will return to Division II action and face 22nd ranked Florida Southern in Lakeland, Fla. at 10:00a.m. This will be the first of three matches played on a four-day road trip to the Orlando area.

Singles
#1 Emilija Arnaudovska (SLU) def. Suzanna Cavalcante (UWF) 4-0, ret.
#2 Iva Velkovska (SLU) def. Paola Arevalo (UWF) 3-6, 6-3, 10-5
#3 Breda Kovac (SLU) def. Renata Mattos (UWF) 3-6, 6-1, 10-2
#4 Jana Simurkova (SLU) def. Taylor Brewster (UWF) 6-1, 6-1
#5 Bonnie Phillips (SLU) def. Tatiana Rodrigues (UWF) 6-3, 6-2
#6 Nina Knavs (SLU) def. Lorena Rebolledo (UWF) 6-3, 6-0

Doubles
#1 Cavallante/Arevalo (UWF) def. Knavs/Kovac (SLU) 8-5
#2 Arnaudovska/Velkovska (SLU) def. Brewster/Rodriguez (UWF) 8-1
#3 Phillips/Simurkova (SLU) def. Mattos/Reboledo (UWF) 8-2