The Sam Houston State women's tennis team defeated Stephen F. Austin 6-1 to earn their third Southland Conference dual match victory of the season Thursday at Nacogdoches.

Irina Sotnikova, Eleonora Kuruc, Peta Taylor, Patti Manzur, and Roxanna Martinez each won the singles matches and Sam Houston State won all three doubles pro sets.

"It was a good win against an vastly improved and well-coached SFA team," SHSU Head Coach Jim Giachino said.  "Even though
we were a bit spotty in our doubles matches, I was pleased to see how well we fought  to win all three when we wern't playing our best tennis. We are also continuing to show growth in our singles play. SFA came at us very hard after losing the doubles
point, and the Bearkats were up to the challenge today."

Next action for the Sam Houston State women's tennis team will be a road dual match at Texas-Arlington March 29.

Tennis Results

Sam Houston State 6, SFA 1

Doubles

1. Sotnikova/Taylor def. Roxana Enica/Mary Harrison, 9-8 (4) 2. Vujosevic/Martinez def. Gabriela Gadeva/Tatiana Smolnikova, 9-7 (4) 3. Kuruc/Manzur def. Jamie Williams/Andreea Enica, 8-3

Singles

1. Sotnikova def. R. Enica, 6-3, 6-2

2. 2. Kuruc def. Harrison, 6-4, 6-0

3. Taylor def. Gadeva, 6-3, 6-4

4. Smolinkova def. Vujosevic, 6-2, 6-2

5. Manzur def. A. Enica, 6-1, 6-4

6. Martinez def. Christelle Kaempfer, 6-3, 6-4 7. Williams def. Martirosyan, 6-3, 7-6 (2)