LAKE CHARLES, La. — It did not take long for the Sam Houston tennis team to bounce back from its first Southland Conference loss and remain in contention for a conference title.
 
The Bearkats rolled to a 7-0 victory over McNeese (1-15, 1-8 SLC) on Friday afternoon at the Nancy Hank Tennis Center to improve to 14-3 overall and 9-1 in league action. Sam Houston is currently tied atop the conference standings with UNO heading into Sunday's final match of the season at Southeastern Louisiana.
 
The Kats took a 1-0 lead by winning the doubles point. Junior Sahaja Yamalapalli and freshman Sahithi Vutukuru defeated Sofia San Jose Moren and Natalia Ballo 6-4 in the No. 1 spot, and junior Karla De La Luz Montalvo and sophomore Petra Kaszas topped Luna Jokanovic and Matilde Mulatero 6-3 at No. 3.
 
Yamalapalli continued her perfect season with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Moren at No. 1 singles. She is now 16-0 overall and 10-0 in SLC play.
 
De La Luz Montalvo (12-5, 8-2) defeated Ballo 6-3, 6-2 in the No. 2 position, and sophomore Isidora Zivkovic (12-5, 7-3) battled Carlotta Romito to a 6-7, 6-3, 10-8 win at No. 3.
 
Vutukuru (10-3, 7-3) added another win to her impressive rookie campaign by defeating Jokanovic 6-4, 7-5 at No. 4 singles, and freshman Andrijana Brkic came away with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Matilde Mulatero at No. 5 for her first conference win.
 
Freshman Sunskrithi Damera upped her overall and conference record to 4-1 with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Yukina Abe at No. 6 singles.