The Hawkeye

The ULM women's tennis team traveled to the No. 62 ranked Mississippi State University Lady Bulldogs in Starkville, Miss. on Feb. 21 and lost 4-3 in a highly contested matchup.

ULM (4-1) lost for the first time this season, but they held on until the final match, which featured the No. 1 singles match between the Warhawks' Claire Clark and the Lady Bulldogs' Olesya Tsigvintseva. The matchup began with three doubles matches to determine the first point, but the Warhawks quickly lost the first two matches to fall behind 1-0 heading into the six singles showdowns.

Despite the missed opportunity, Vivian Polak and Ana Burjaili defeated Valeriya Makarycheve and Elizabeth Hall in doubles action in one set with a score of 8-2 in order to save the doubles shutout.

The win did not initially spark ULM as Lena Satge and Sidney Bruscato lost both the No. 2 and the No. 4 singles matches in straight sets, respectively, to fall into a 3-0 hole, with Mississippi State one victory away from the win.

The Warhawks started the long climb from the hole when Monica Winkel defeated Mississippi State's Valeriya Makarycheve in two sets 6-1, 6-2 in No. 3 singles for the first win for ULM in the match. Polak and Burjaili followed suit with wins over their opponents in three sets to even the overall match between the teams at three matches apiece.

The No. 1 singles match between Clark and Tsigvintseva decided who would win the overall match, and the first set highlighted the importance of the showdown as Tsigvintseva took the first set in a tiebreak, 7-6. Clark showed her grit and quickly responded in the second set with a 6-3 win to tie the match at one set apiece. The two battled into a winner-take-all last set but Clark was not able to bring home the victory for the Warhawks with a 6-4 loss.

The Warhawks will try to avenge this loss when they will be back in action at Heard Stadium in Monroe to host Delta State on Friday, Mar. 5.

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