HUNTSVILLE, Texas – The UTSA women's tennis team earned their fourth straight win as the Roadrunners defeated Sam Houston, 4-3, in Huntsville, Texas, on Sunday.
"Great win for us today," head coach Ki Kroll said. "Sam Houston came to play and it was a great battle. At 5-5 in the third set, Fatima Gutierrez came out fighting to win 2 straight games with both teams deadlocked at 3-3 to clinch the match. I'm very proud of this team. They are quite the fighters."
The Roadrunners battled to win the doubles point and take an early 1-0 lead. Magda Tuells and Eva Beyebach fell to the Bearkats' duo of Sahithi Vutukuru and Vianne Schwab at the second court, 6-1. Alexandra Weir and Adeliya Mukhutdinova then defeated Anastasia Khokhlova and McKenzy Byfield at the third court, 6-3. To secure the doubles point, Aleksandra Zlatarova and Fatima Gutierrez defeated Sam Houston's Megan Basson and Paula Cerda by a score of 6-4 at the top spot.
Sam Houston's Byfield won the sixth singles spot by default to tie the score at one apiece. Tuells won the Roadrunners their first singles point at the No. 4 court as she beat the Khoklova by set scores of 6-2 and 6-1. The Bearkats once again tied the score at 2-2 as Weir fell to Cerda at the second court by set scores of 7-5 and 6-4. Zlatarova fought through three sets with Sam Houston's Basson at the top spot, ultimately coming out victorious by set scores of 5-7, 7-5, and 6-2 to give UTSA the go-ahead 3-2 lead. At the fifth spot, Beyebach also battled to three sets but the Bearkats' Schwab had the upper hand with set scores of 7-6 (5), 3-6 and 6-1, as Sam Houston tied up the match again at 3-3.
With one last court playing to win the match for their team, Gutierrez and Vutukuru of Sam Houston took the No. 3 court match down to the wire in three sets. Vutukuru won the first set by 6-4, but Gutierrez earned the second set win by 6-2 to take them to a third set. With the third set tied at 5-5, Gutierrez worked diligently to win the next two games and take the third set, 7-5, to win the final clinching point for UTSA. The Roadrunners fought through a great matchup to defeat Sam Houston, 4-3, and extend their winning streak to four straight matches.
The Roadrunners improve to a 4-2 record, while Sam Houston falls to a 2-3 record.
UP NEXT: The Roadrunners host their first weekend of home matches next week, hosting Tarleton State on Feb. 10 at 2 p.m. and Texas State on Feb. 12 at 1 p.m. at the UTSA Tennis Center.
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