The women’s tennis team opened the SMU Tennis Complex this weekend in the Blue and Red Challenge, winning seven of nine matches in day one.
“We played with a lot of pride,” Head Coach Kati Gyulai said. “We chased down a lot of balls and we won a lot of matches. Just a great effort, overall.”
The Mustangs were paired with Wyoming in both singles and doubles on Friday.
Junior Hristina Dishkova and senior Holly Verner earned their tenth win, 8-3, of the season in doubles against Christa Gecheva and Jessica Parizher.
Also dominating doubles were junior Vaszilisza Bulgakova and sophomore Dasha Sharapova who earned an 8-6 victory over Dorottya Jonas and Magdalena Stencel. Junior Yana Erkeeva and sophomore Mary Wright also earned an 8-3 victory over Cecilia Mercier and Silviya Zhelyazkova.
The Mustangs only lost in doubles once when Anna Kate Anderson and Macie Elliott lost a three-set match to Gecheva and Stencel; 6-4, 6-7, 6-3.
And in singles, Dishkova defeated Jonas; 6-2, 6-4 while Erkeeva managed a 7-5, 6-0 win over Zhelyazkova and Sharapova beat Parizher; 7-5, 6-1. The victories continued when Wright defeated Mercier; 6-3, 6-2.
Bulgakova almost had a perfect day in singles for the Mustangs, but ended up losing in a close match to Nastya Tokareva; 7-6, 7-5.
“I thought we did a great job with our attitude,” Gyulai said. “That’s what we ask from our players.”
Play continued again on Saturday when the Mustangs tallied five total wins in the second day of the Blue and Red Challenge.
SMU was paired with the South Alabama Jaguars in singles and doubles for day two.
In doubles, Dishkova and Verner dominated yet again topping Laura Valkova and Emily Newton. The pair of doubles, Erkeeva and Wright dominated Cinta Marie Papke and Laura Matuskova in an 8-1 victory. Anderson and Elliott bounced back from their loss on Friday and earned an 8-6 decision over Paula Sanchez and Silvia Martinkova.
The pair with Bulgakova and Dasha Sharapova lost 8-6 to Michaela Meszarosova and Mary Angels Martin.
Moving into singles, Sharapova and Anderson both earned wins for the Mustangs. Sharapova defeated Emily Newton; 6-3, 6-0 while anderson went into a second-set tiebreaker to defeat Martin; 6-4, 7-6.
And Sunday marked the last day of the Blue and Red Challenge and wrapped up the fall season for SMU women’s tennis. Wins for the Mustangs came in three wins in doubles.
“I thought we got better each day during this tournament,” said head coach Kati Gyulai. “We did the basics well in doubles and we played with energy.”
On the final day SMU was paired with Wichita State in both singles and doubles.
In doubles, Erkeeva and Wright recorded another 8-6 victory over Abby Stevens and Giulia Guidetti. Bulgakova and Sharapova finished 2-0 on the day beating Julia Schiller and Gabriela Porubin, 8-7 and Stevens and Guidetti; 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
“I am pleased to see our student-athletes play with passion and inspiration this late in the season,” Gyulai said. “I appreciate the tremendous effort and positive attitude on every court. We had a tremendous fall and look to build on it for the spring season.”
The Mustangs are finished now until the spring season begins in a match against Sam Houston State Jan. 30 at the new SMU Tennis Complex.
