JACKSONVILLE – Gamecocks women's tennis fell Saturday morning in a hard fought 4-3 final against former Ohio Valley Conference foe Murray State. Even in the loss,
Anna Syrova,
Zuzana Pavelekova, and
Irene Artigas shined.
Artigas and
Aneka Patel lost the first doubles match to be completed of the day on court three. Varya Alexeyeva and Paola Campigotto took a 7-5 win over the Gamecocks' duo.
Polina Ramenskaja and Ella Tuomella then got the Red-and-White on the board with a 7-5 win on court one over Valeria Chaikovskaia and Bruna Melato.
Lea Erenda and
Anna Syrova teamed up on court two in the for the deciding doubles match against Yuna Kadowaki and Yu Kikawa. The match came down to tie breakers, but went the way of the Racers as they clinched the doubles point thanks to a 7-6 (7-4) win over Erenda and Syrova.
Erenda and Alexeyeva squared off on singles court two. Erenda lost set one 6-3 and set two 6-2 to Alexeyeva in the first singles match to go final. Ramenskaja faced Valeria Chaikovskaia who won 6-1 in both the first and second sets to put the Racers ahead 3-0.
Syrova got the first point of the day for the Gamecocks thanks to her 6-3, 7-5 victory over Kikawa on court three. Pavelekova then got the Gamecocks within one of the Racers with her 6-4, 6-3 win over Rebecca Widan on court six.
On court four, Patel and Melato duked it out for three sets. Patel won the opening set 6-4 before Melato won the second 6-1. In the match deciding third set, Melato won 6-3 to put Murray State up 4-2. In the final match to be completed, Artigas got the Gamecocks a point thanks to a win over Paola Campigotto on court five.
Artigas took the tight opening set 7-5, but Campigotto responded with a close 6-4 win of her own in the second set. The third set came down to tie breakers with Artigas earning the victory 12-10.
The Gamecocks are now 6-5 after the loss, while Murray State improved to 7-6. Jax State is back in action Tuesday at home against Wallace State-Hanceville. The home match is set for a 1 p.m. first-serve.
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