Women's tennis meets Lamar in Southland first round
4/21/2010 4:56:00 PM | Women's Tennis
The 17th annual women's tennis post-season team tournament will be held at the HEB Tennis Center in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Sam Houston is the No. 5 seed after completing Southland Conference action with a 7-4 league mark. Lamar is the No. 4 seed, tying in the final conference standings for third place with an 8-3 SLC record.
Lamar defeated Sam Houston 6-1 in their regular season dual match April 10 but Bearkat head coach Jim Giachino is looking for a different result in Corpus Christi.
"Since losing to Lamar, we closed out our season with a pair of 4-3 victories over Stephen F. Austin and McNeese State," Giachino said. "Our young players are fighters and are playing with a lot of confidence. They are determined to give Lamar a run for their money."
Four of Sam Houston's players finished Southland play with winning records. Freshman Nadya Dubyanskaya was 10-1 playing at the No. 4 and 5 singles positions this year. Two other freshmen, Sheridan Currie and Tatyana Postnikova, each rolled up 7-4 league marks. Currie played at the No. 2, 3 and 4 positions during the season while Postnikova competed at the No. 2 and 3 spots.
Northwestern State earned the No. 1 seed at the tournament by rolling through Southland action with a perfect 11-0 record. UT Arlington (10-1) earned the No. 2 seed. The Mavericks are the defending regular season and conference tournament champion has won the tournament a record five times.
Sam Houston is making its seventh tournament appearance. The Bearkats best finishes were semi-finals appearances in 2005 and 2006. Sam Houston lost to UTSA 4-3 in last year's tournament first round also in Corpus Christi.
The complete first round schedule for Friday in Corpus Christi:
9:30 a.m.
No. 3 Texas State (12-6, 8-3 SLC) vs. No. 6 A&M-Corpus Christi (10-10, 5-6 SLC)
No. 2 UT-Arlington (10-6, 10-1 SLC) vs. No. 7 Southeastern Louisiana (8-13, 4-7 SLC)
12 noon
No. 4 Lamar (13-8, 8-3 SLC) vs. No. 5 Sam Houston (8-10, 7-4 SLC)
No. 1 Northwestern State (17-1, 11-0 SLC) vs. No. 8 Stephen F. Austin (8-12, 4-7 SLC)
The winners from the opening-round matches will play Saturday for a spot in the tournament championship Sunday at noon, with the winner earning the league's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.
