ARKADELPHIA, Ark. - It came down to the final singles match Saturday afternoon between the Reddies and the Muleriders, but it was No. 11 Southern Arkansas who claimed the slight edge from the Bettye Wallace Tennis Center, 4-3.
Henderson State (9-7, 0-1 GAC) opened an early 1-0 lead after taking the doubles point with a pair of victories at Nos. 2 and 3.
Angela Georgieva and
Jenna Kate Bohnert got the first doubles nod at the No. 2 line, 6-3, to even leave one doubles match to decide the opening point.
Haarini Balakrishnan rejoined
Marianna Murcia, fighting off a late comeback from the Muleriders' No. 3 tandem to take the match and the overall match lead, 7-5. Balakrishnan and Murcia hold a team-best 7-2 record as partners this season.
Mulan Kamoe put HSU ahead, 2-0, after getting revenge on SAU's top singles player Greta Wallin in straight sets following the doubles loss, 6-0, 6-4. The Muleriders responded with three straights win, however, to seize a 3-2 lead in the match.
Balakrishnan followed her doubles victory with a three-set win at the No. 6 line. Following a first-set loss, Balakrishnan responded with 7-5 tiebreaker met with a 6-2 third-set winner to even the overall match, 3-3.
In the final singles match, Bohnert dropped her opening set before taking the second, 6-3. The match-deciding set was taken by SAU's Josie Holderbach, 6-4, giving No. 11 Southern Arkansas the narrow 4-3 victory.
Henderson St. will remain in GAC play when it heads to Searcy, Ark. to face off against Harding Tuesday, Apr. 9 at 2 p.m.
RESULTS
Doubles:
No. 1 #9 Annika Berrendorf/Greta Wallin (SAU) def.Â
Mulan Kamoe/
Kristina Kozlova (HSU) 6-2
No. 2
Angela Georgieva/
Jenna Kate Bohnert (HSU) def. Inna Serpukhova/Roksana Kokocha (SAU) 6-3
No. 3
Haarini Balakrishnan/
Marianna Murcia (HSU) def. Amelie Gindl/Josie Holderbach (SAU) 7-5
Singles:
No. 1
Mulan Kamoe (HSU) def. Greta Wallin (SAU) 6-0, 6-4
No. 2 Annika Berrendorf (SAU) def.Â
Kristina Kozlova (HSU) 6-2, 6-2
No. 3 Amelie Gindl (SAU) def.Â
Angela Georgieva (HSU) 6-1, 6-1
No. 4 Josie Holderbach (SAU) def.
Jenna Kate Bohnert (HSU)Â 6-1, 3-6, 6-4
No. 5 Roksana Kokocha (SAU) def.Â
Marianna Murcia (HSU) 7-5, 6-0
No. 6
Haarini Balakrishnan (HSU) def. Lisa Lochter (SAU) 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
