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MONTGOMERY, Texas – The UTEP tennis team claimed the doubles point but was unable to sustain the momentum into singles action in an eventual 5-1 neutral-site loss against Sam Houston State Monday afternoon. The Miners (4-10) took the early lead but the Bearkats (10-4) regrouped to rally in singles play.
"We got off to a good start by winning the doubles (point)," UTEP head coach
Ivan Fernandez said. "We fought hard in singles but just couldn't' pull it out. It was a great fight all the way to the end. I'm very proud of our energy."
UTEP looked to be in top form early, taking wins at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles to claim the doubles point and secure the early 1-0 lead.
Kirsten Prelle and
Vanessa Valdez cruised to a 6-2 triumph against Lusine Chobanyan and Roos Gerritsen at No. 1 doubles.
Kathleen Percegona and Yvette Van Oijen defeated Sahaja Yamalapalli and Isidora Zivkovic, 6-3, at No. 2 doubles to clinch the point for the Miners. SHSU's Karla De La Luz Montalvo and Stevie Ybarra snuck past UTEP's
Rine Nozaki and
Erandi Martinez, 6-3, at No. 3 doubles.
Prelle started quickly by taking the first set, 6-2, at No. 1 singles against Yamalapalli. Her foe recovered to snatch the final two sets, 6-2, 6-4. Van Oijen also got out of the gates strong by besting Petra Kaszas, 6-2, in the opening set at No. 6 singles. She couldn't keep it going, however, and was edged in the last two sets, 6-4, 6-4.
Martinez battled but ultimately was clipped by De La Luz Montalvo, 7-6, 6-3 at No. 3 singles. Percegona was upended by Chobanyan, 6-1, 6-3, at No. 4 singles. Nozaki was defeated by Gerritsen, 6-2, 6-1, at No. 5 singles.
With the team outcome decided, the match at No. 2 singles between Valdez and Zivkovic went unfinished. Valdez was trailing 6-4, 6-5, at the time it was halted.
The Miners will look to bounce back when they compete at Houston at 12 p.m. MT Wednesday. It will mark the third match in four days for the Orange and Blue.
