TULSA, OK -- Sam Houston State forced No. 42 ranked Tulsa into match-deciding tie-breakers in three of the six singles and one of the doubles pro sets as the Hurricanes ended up winning 7-0 in a non-conference women's tennis dual match Friday.

Then, Saturday afternoon, the Bearkats fell 5-2 to undefeated Kansas State.

Irina Sotnikova at one singles, Peta Taylor at three singles, and Roxanna Martinez at six singles all split sets to force super 10-point tie-breakers in the Tulsa match. Sotnikova and Taylor also went to a tiebreaker to decid the number one doubles.

"Overall, we're pleased with the effort of the team," head coach Jim Giachino said. "Playing against Tulsa, a team ranked 42 in the nation and splitting sets in three of the matches showed a lot of growth and fighting spirit. Peta and Irina also played a strong match at number one doubles.

"Kansas State is going to continue to climb in the rankings as well, beating the No. 32 team in the country this weekend, and we took two points from them, and came close to getting a third," Giachino added. "We still need more production from a couple of our players if we are to make a run at conference, but the learning curve is moving upward. The first is there and we're getting stronger as a team."

Sotnikova and Taylor provided the Bearkats victories at number one and three singles in the loss to Kansas State.

Sotnikova defeated Viviana Yrureta 6-2 6-4 while Taylor won 6-4 6-4 over Katerina Kudlackova. Sotnikova and Taylor lost in tiebreaker at number one doubles.

Tennis Match Results
Sam Houston State University vs Tulsa
2/15/2008 at Tulsa, Okla.

#42 Tulsa 7, Sam Houston State University 0

   Doubles competition
1. Rebecca Row/Carla Zabaleta (TLSW) def. Irina Sotnikova/Peta Taylor 
(SHSU) 8-7 (10-6)
2. Thalia Diaz-Barriga/Marta Marcinkowska (TLSW) def. Roxana 
Martinez/Stasa Vujosevic (SHSU) 8-2
3. Alexandra Kichoutkin/Jie Zeng (TLSW) def. Eleonora Kuruc/Patricia 
Manzur (SHSU) 8-2

  Singles competition
1. Alexandra Kichoutkin (TLSW) def. Irina Sotnikova (SHSU) 6-2, 3-6, 
1-0 (10-6)
2. Thalia Diaz-Barriga (TLSW) def. Eleonora Kuruc (SHSU) 6-0, 6-0
3. Rebecca Row (TLSW) def. Peta Taylor (SHSU) 2-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-5)
4. Agostina Santoro (TLSW) def. Stasa Vujosevic (SHSU) 6-1, 6-0
5. Marta Marcinkowska (TLSW) def. Patricia Manzur (SHSU) 6-2, 6-0
6. Jenna Webster (TLSW) def. Roxana Martinez (SHSU) 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (10-3)


Tennis Match Results
Sam Houston State vs Kansas St
Feb 16, 2008 at Tulsa, OK

Kansas St 5, Sam Houston State 2

Doubles competition
1. Olga Klimova/Katerina Kudlackava (KS) def. Irina Sotnikova/Peta Taylor (SHSU) 8-7
2. Vanessa Cotton/Antea Huljev (KS) def. Roxana Martinez/Stasa Vujosevic (SHSU) 8-1
3. Pauline Guemas/Viviana Yrureta (KS) def. Nora Kuruc/Patricia Manzur (SHSU) 8-4

 Singles competition
1. Irina Sotnikova (SHSU) def. Viviana Yrureta (KS) 6-2, 6-4
2. Vanessa Cotton (KS) def. Nora Kuruc (SHSU) 6-2, 6-3
3. Peta Taylor (SHSU) def. Katerina Kudlackava (KS) 6-4, 6-4
4. Antea Huljev (KS) def. Stasa Vujosevic (SHSU) 6-2, 6-0
5. Olga Klimova (KS) def. Patricia Manzur (SHSU) 6-1, 6-2
6. Pauline Guemas (KS) def. Roxana Martinez (SHSU) 6-2, 0-6, 6-3