Tennis drops two contests (Photo by Austin Kilgore, The Daily Campus)
The No. 49 women’s tennis team (7-2) entered the weekend hoping to build on a hot start, though it would have to do so against a pair of tough opponents.
On Saturday, No. 14 Texas Christian University (6-0) arrived at Haggar Tennis Stadium for its first road game of the year. The Horned Frogs began 2005 with a 5-0 record in Fort Worth.
After TCU swept the doubles sets by a combined score of 24-12, SMU was down early, 1-0.
Following two Horned Frog victories in singles, however, the Mustangs’ Jen Chay defeated opponent Ana Cetnik to pull her team to within two. Her effort would not be enough, though, as three straight wins to finish singles sent TCU to a 6-1 victory.
Local twins Halley and Brooke Rambally, both juniors out of Allen, Texas, provided some late-match excitement as they took on a pair of Horned Frogs in the Nos. 5 and 6 singles.
Halley took TCU’s Glorianna Lopez into a three-set tiebreaker, eventually falling by a score of 3-7. Sister Brooke also forced a tiebreaker against the Horned Frogs’ Andrea Morgado, though she lost as well, 3-10.
On Sunday, the No. 38 Pepperdine Waves (5-3) came calling, hoping to rebound from a stop in Waco where they took a loss to the Baylor Bears.
The Mustangs got on top early, as doubles pair Lynsie Jones and Svetlana Kouzmenko battled hard against opponents Caroline Raba and Sylvia Kosakowski en route to a 9-8 SMU win.
Their win would prove to be the only victorious highlight of the afternoon, however, as the Waves took the final two doubles sets, 1-8 and 6-8.
Pepperdine went on to sweep the six singles sets, though a pair of Mustang would once again force tiebreaking competitions.
Halley Rambally rallied for a tiebreaker for the second straight day, eventually bowing down to the Waves’ Eva Dickes, 4-10.
Senior Allison Leuszler played two close sets against Pepperdine’s Kosakowski (5-7 and 6-7) to push her way to a tiebreaking battle. Though she fell 4-10, Leuszler made sure the Waves’ did not escape with an easy win.
The team will spend this week preparing for two weekend opponents from the Sunshine State.
At 10 a.m. Saturday, the No. 63 Florida International University Golden Panthers (3-2) will battle the Mustangs at Haggar Tennis Stadium. Later, the team will host the Florida Atlantic University Owls (5-2) at 3 p.m.
