DENTON, Texas – A day after almost coming away with a conference victory, the Louisiana Tech tennis team made sure of getting one today by defeating UTEP, 5-2, on Saturday afternoon in a neutral site match at the Waranch Tennis Complex.
 
LA Tech (7-5, 1-1 C-USA) opened things up by winning the doubles point and picked up victories on four courts in singles, all via straight sets.
 
"We had a great weekend in Texas," said head coach Amanda Stone.  "We started really well in doubles again and was able to win that momentum point going into singles.  UTEP played us tough in singles.  It was really windy and that was definitely an equalizer.  Our team had to dig deep and fight through a lot of points and I was proud to see that quality in them."
 
Ilana Tetruashvili and Andrea Perez-Lopez coasted to a 6-0 win on court three over Lina Sachica and Eve Daniels, improving to a 3-1 together this spring. 
 
With UTEP (2-5, 0-1 C-USA) countering with a 6-3 win on court one, the opening point came down to court two where Ana Jover and Claudia Oravcova continued their winning ways by defeating Erandi Martinez and Vanessa Valdez, 6-3, for their fifth straight doubles dub.
 
Just like she did in doubles, Tetruashvili got things started off in the right foot in singles.  The junior was down 4-3 in the first set, but then reeled of nine straight games to take it 6-4, 6-0 over Martinez at the No. 3 position.
 
Alexia Romero was equally as dominant from the No. 4 spot, overpowering Kathleen Percegona by a final score of 6-3, 6-0 to give the Lady Techster a 3-0 advantage in the team match.
 
"Ilana and Alexia rebounded well from their tough losses yesterday and put us in position to clinch which was the push we needed," added Stone.
 
Providing the clincher was the next court to finish at No. 6 where Oravcova grabbed a 6-4, 6-4 triumph against Thassane Abrahim for her third straight singles win.
 
"Claudia had a big weekend for us," said Stone.  "She played great in both doubles and gutted out two singles matches to give us much-needed points.  I'm really proud of her stepping up for the team."
 
Jover provided an insurance point at No. 2 with a 7-5, 6-4 victory versus Sachica, improving her spring record to 8-4. 
 
The Miners got their two points on the two remaining courts, one coming at the top position and the other at No. 5 where Perez-Lopez retired in the second set. 
 
Next up for LA Tech is a four-game home swing that starts on Friday, Feb. 21 for another C-USA battle coming against UTSA.  First serve is set for 12 p.m. at the Ruston Sports Complex.
 
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