| Junior Holly Phillips 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory on Friday sent UTSA into the SLC Tournament semifinals. |
CORPUS CHRISTI ? The UTSA women’s tennis team defeated Sam Houston State, 4-3, in a three-and-a-half-hour thriller on Friday in the opening quarterfinal of the Southland Conference Tournament.
The third-seeded Roadrunners (15-7), who avenged a 4-3 loss to the Bearkats three weeks ago in the Alamo City, fell behind early, as they dropped the first two doubles matches of the afternoon.
The senior-freshman duo Karen Scida and Micaela Silva were unsuccessful in their No. 1 doubles contest against Irina Sotnikova and Peta Taylor (8-5), while senior Monika Drabkova and Caroline Dedering fell to Giorgia Pozzan and Patty Manzur at the No. 2 spot, 8-1.
The Birds knew they had their work cut out for them entering singles play, but they were able to win four of the half dozen tilts to rally for the one-point victory and live another day.
Drabkova kicked off the winning performances with 6-1, 6-0 straight-sets triumph over Manzur at the No. 4 spot. Silva then defeated Stasa Vujosevic in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, at the No. 6 position. The Bearkats tied things up at two when Eleonora Kuruc got past Dedering, 6-2, 6-2.
Wallin gave the Roadrunners their second lead of the day when she rallied for a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory against Pozzan. However, the Bearkats knotted the contest again when Sotnikova, the SLC Player of the Year, defeated Scida at the No. 1 spot 4-6, 6-0, 6-3.
The deciding match was the No. 3 battle between Phillips and Taylor. Sam Houston State's second-team all-conference performer claimed the first set 3-6, but Phillips recovered with 6-3 and 6-1 victories in the final two stanzas for her 17th win in her last 18 outings.
“What an exciting way to open the conference tournament," third-year head coach Erin Boisclair said. "I am so proud of how every one played today and the way they just believed in themselves after falling behind early. This team really showed what they are made of today”
UTSA will face second-seeded Lamar, who defeated Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4-1 in the opening round, in Saturday's first semifinal at noon.