TENNIS FALLS AT HOME TO 16TH-RANKED NORTHEASTERN STATE

        RUSSELLVILLE, Arkansas – Arkansas Tech Golden Suns Tennis returned to action following 13-day layoff here Wednesday by falling 8-1 to 16th-ranked Northeastern State in non-conference action at the Chartwells Women’s Sports Complex.

With the loss, Tech falls to 12-3 overall on the season, while the RiverHawks improve to 13-2 on the season.

In Wednesday’s match, Tech collected its only win at No. 1 doubles as senior Anna Carson (Greenwood, Ark.) and sophomore Saki Matsuoka (Saitama, Japan) teamed up to pick up an 8-6 win over NSU’s No. 1 team of Zuzanna Osinka and Karolina Cichon. The win improved Carson and Matsuoka to 18-3 in doubles, including a 14-1 mark in dual matches. In addition, it was just the fourth loss of the season for NSU’s No. 1 doubles team.

“Despite the score of the match, I was impressed with the way our team battled today against a very good Northeastern State team,” Golden Suns Head Coach Abby Davis said.

The RiverHawks won the other two doubles matches and took all six singles matches, including having Emina Spirtovic pick up a win in a third-set tiebreaker over Matsuoka at No. 2 singles. In the other singles matches, NSU won in straight sets, including picking up 6-0, 6-0 wins at Nos. 1 and 5.   

Tech will return to action this coming weekend when they hit the road for two matches. The Golden Suns will open the road swing on Friday, April 3 at John Brown at 3 p.m. and then will face Southwest Baptist on Saturday, April 4 at 10 a.m. in Bolivar, Mo.

#16 Northeastern State 8, Arkansas Tech 1

SINGLES

No. 1 – Zuzanna Osinka (NSU) def. Anna Carson (Tech), 6-0, 6-0

No. 2 – Emina Spirtovic (NSU) def. Saki Matsuoka (Tech), 1-6, 6-3, 10-4

No. 3 – Karolina Cichon (NSU) def. Brittany Turner (Tech), 6-3, 6-2

No. 4 – Michaela Romanova (NSU) def. Kristen Brown (Tech), 6-2, 6-0

No. 5 – Agata Skorupska (NSU) def. Jessica James (Tech), 6-0, 6-0

No. 6 – Valerie McKinney (NSU) def. Ashley Baird (Tech), 6-2, 6-1

DOUBLES

No. 1 – Carson/Matsuoka (Tech) def. Osinka/Cichon (NSU), 8-6

No. 2 – Spirtovic/Romanova (NSU) def. Michelle Yu/Turner (Tech), 8-1

No. 3 – Skorupska/McKinney (NSU) def. Brown/James (Tech), 8-4

Northeastern State results

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