WTennis Makes Quick Work of Southern Miss on Sunday Morning

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DALLAS, Texas (SMU) - The No. 29 SMU Women’s Tennis team (17-2) made quick work of C-USA foe Southern Miss on Sunday morning at Bent Tree Country Club, winning 4-0 in just over an hour. The match was moved indoors due to inclement weather in the Dallas area. The Mustangs have now won 13 of their last 14 matched, including five in a row.

“The singles came out ready to play today again and I was glad to see that,” said head coach Lauren Longbotham Meisner. “After finishing after 10 o’clock last night and needed to be back here at 7:30 this morning, it could have been easy for them to come out sluggish. But, the girls were focused and ready and took care of business. It is always nice to get a conference win and now we will get focused to take on Baylor on Wednesday.

The teams played singles matches first due to the venue change and the top four singles flights were played on the available courts.

Marta Lesniak, ranked No. 29 in the latest ITA singles rankings, improved to 17-0 at the No. 1 singles line with her 6-4, 6-2 victory over Vrani van Berlo, while freshman Katerina Vankova picked up her fifth win this spring when she took out Stephanie Dellocono, 6-2, 6-4 at No. 2.

Sophomore Aleksandra Malyarchikova bounced back from a tough loss on Saturday to cruise past Lauren Gutterman, 6-0, 6-2 at No. 3. The 97th-ranked player in the country improved to 14-2 this spring, with four of her wins coming at the No. 3 spot.

Freshman Shahzoda Hatamova picked up her 13th win on the spring against Shannon Rogers at No. 4 to clinch the match for SMU. Hatamova won 6-3, 6-0 and is 13-3 this spring and a perfect 9-0 at the No. 4 line.

The Mustangs are back in action on Wednesday as they travel to Waco to face the top-ranked Baylor Bears. SMU and Baylor met last spring in an NCAA second round matchup, with the Bears squeaking out a 4-2 win in Waco.

No. 29 SMU 4, Southern Miss 0
SINGLES
1. No. 29 Lesniak (SMU) def. Vrani van Berlo (USM), 6-4, 6-2
2. Vankova (SMU) def. Stephanie Dellocono (USM), 6-2, 6-4
3. No. 97 Malyarchikova (SMU) def. Lauren Gutterman (USM), 6-0, 6-2
4. Hatamova (SMU) def. Shannon Rogers (USM), 6-3, 6-0
5. Cieplucha (SMU) vs. Frances Askew (USM), DNF
6. Francis (SMU) vs. Lauren Sanford (USM), DNF