The Independent Voice of Southern Methodist University Since 1915

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The Daily Campus

The Independent Voice of Southern Methodist University Since 1915

The Daily Campus

The Independent Voice of Southern Methodist University Since 1915

The Daily Campus

The crew of Egg Drop Soup poses with director Yang (bottom, center).
SMU student film highlights the Chinese-American experience
Lexi Hodson, Contributor • May 16, 2024
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Women’s tennis ends seven-game slide

The SMU women’s tennis team snapped a seven-game losing streak on Thursday with a narrow 4-3 victory over Arkansas State at Turpin Tennis Stadium.

Coming off a weekend loss to Rice, SMU returned to its home court Thursday afternoon to settle its season record back to .500.

The Mustangs’ win over Arkansas also ended the Razorbacks’ five-game winning streak.

SMU’s only ranked doubles team, No. 41 Natalia Bubien and Pavi Francis, stretched its winning streak to six matches and its overall record to 13-4 with an 8-1 victory over Renee Branker and Emily Laing in the No. 1 match.

With their win, Bubien and Francis improved to 13-4 on the season, winning eight of their last 11 games.

The pair will look to keep rolling and hope the Mustangs (9-9) will do the same when the team concludes its regular season with a Sunday morning matchup against Louisiana-Lafayette at Turpin Tennis Stadium.

Then the team will begin the Conference USA Championships on April 17 in Houston. SMU fell in the tournament’s quarterfinals last season and is 1-2 against conference opponents this spring.

Bubien and Francis’ win knocked ASU’s Paula Chelminksa off a six-match winning streak before arriving in Dallas.

Chelminksa and partner Maria Oprea, who had won all four of their last doubles matches were knocked down to 11-5 overall.

The team of Bubien and Francis was the Mustangs’ only winning doubles pair on Thursday. The No. 2 team of Nicole Briceno and Kristen Reid and the No. 3 duo of Sarah Acosta and Jordan Hamilton each fell by 8-6 scores.

Acosta and Norman both lost in what was just their second collegiate appearance of the season.

The Mustangs rebounded to win four of the six singles competitions.

In the No. 1 match, Bubien, ranked No. 88 in the country, easily defeated Maria Oprea 6-4, 6-0. At No. 2, Francis ended Chelminska’s six-match winning streak with a 6-2, 6-3 victory. Bubien and Francis are each 10-7 in singles matches this season.

No. 3 Briceno won a first-set tiebreaker and mopped up in the second set against Rone Van Wyk. No. 4 Reid provided the winning point with a three-set victory over Renee Branker, 2-6, 6-0, 6-3.

Hamilton and Acosta each fell in straight sets in the Nos. 5 and 6 matches, respectively.

The Mustangs will end regular season play on April 13 at the SMU courts when they host Louisiana-Lafayette.

Proceeding the regular season, SMU will travel to Houston to compete in the Conference USA Women’s Tennis Championships.

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