ABILENE, Texas – Veronika Lebisova defeated the top player from Tarleton State in singles while she teamed forces with Hanna Telzynska to notch a victory in doubles against homestanding ACU during the first day of competition of the Wildcat Invitational Friday.
 
"We had a rough day today," UTEP head coach Ivan Fernandez said. "Veronika (Lebisova) was able to win at No. 1 singles vs. Tarleton State, and she teamed up with Hanna (Telzynska) to win at No. 2 doubles vs Abilene Christian. Again, we struggled coming down in altitude. We just didn't play as well as we have been practicing. We plan to turn this around tomorrow."
 
Lebisova and Telzynska claimed a back-and-forth match against Maryjoe Crisologo and Libby Blair (ACU), 7-6, (7-2). Paloma Hennicaux and Emma Stuart suffered a heartbreaker vs. Masha Vrsalovic and Andrea Guerrero (ACU), 7-6, (7-2), while Zuzanna Szczepanska and Elena Dibattista fell to Maria Cascos and Olivia Sears (ACU), 6-2.
 
In singles play Lebisova showed strong resolve in besting Emma Persson (Tarleton State). She dropped the first set, 6-2, but rallied back to claim the second (6-0) and third (7-6; 9-7) sets for the victory. The Miners played hard on the other courts but came up shy.
 
UTEP continues action at the event, which is being contested in dual-match format, through the weekend.
 
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