LUBBOCK, Texas (February 24, 2023) – The Lubbock Christian University women's tennis program displayed a new doubles tandem Friday in their Lone Star Conference opener, but the Lady Chaparrals were unable to pull off the upset, falling in the decisive No.6 singles match to fall 4-3 to No.19 St. Mary's at Penny Gullo Tennis Center.
In doubles play, LCU premiered the team of
Anastasiia Khrustaleva and
Anastasiia Opolska, who were active for the first time together this season. Khrustaleva, active for the first time in the spring season, is a native of Moscow, Russia and Opolska, who joined LCU at the semester and made her debut last season, came to LCU from her hometown of Stebnyk, Ukraine. The two teamed to face StMU's Angela Vargas and Bailey Godwin, who are ranked No.6 in the region. The No.2 LCU doubles squad would fall 6-4.
LCU's No.3 doubles squad of
Emily-Bo Meyer and
Oshini Herath, who were making their debut together (as a team) would claim the lone doubles win for the Lady Chaps. StMU won the doubles point for a 1-0 lead heading into singles play.
Michelle Trochez had the biggest singles victory on the fay, claiming a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Angela Vargas (No.7 in the region) in the No.2 singles bout. Trochez improved to 5-1 in duals matches.
Meyer and Herath also added singles victories for LCU. Herath, who improved to 2-0 this season in No.4 singles matches with a 7-5, 6-0 win over Bailey Godwin. Meyer, improving to 6-2 in duals, won a thriller in the No.5 singles match, as she won in three sets 6-4, 0-6, 6-4. The win by Trochez, Herath and Meyer set up the No.6 singles match between
Maya Adler and Stella Sifuentes, who carried a No.13 regional ranking into the match. Adler claimed the opening set and had a lead late in the second set, but Sifuentes rallied back to win the second set in a tiebreaker and won the third set to give the Rattlers the decisive point to escape Lubbock with the 4-3 win.
In Summary
LCU unfortunately opens the LSC play with an 0-1 record. They fall to 5-3 overall in duals competitions.
