RUSTON – The Louisiana Tech tennis team was in another conference battle on a chilly Friday afternoon and the Lady Techsters narrowly fell to the UTSA Roadrunners by a final score of 4-3 at the Ruston Sports Complex.
 
LA Tech (7-6, 1-2 C-USA) needed four singles wins after dropping the doubles point and were able to pick up three of them on courts two, three and four. 
 
The team match ultimately came down to the top spot where UTSA (5-3, 1-0 C-USA) pulled it out in a third-set tiebreaker. 
 
"We lost a heartbreaker today, but the effort and fight we are bringing into every match is impressive," said head coach Amanda Stone.  "UTSA is a strong team this year.  We had the opportunity today and it couldn't have been a closer match."
 
Ana Jover and Claudia Oravcova continued their winning ways in doubles, taking it 6-2 on court two for their sixth straight victory.  However, the Roadrunners bounced back with wins on courts one and three to go up 1-0. 
 
LA Tech came out on fire though in singles, led by Jover who dominated Laura Cabrera at the No. 2 spot, 6-1, 6-0 for her team-leading ninth dual win. 
 
Alexia Romero soon followed at the No. 4 position with a 6-2, 7-5 triumph over Catalina Cabrique.  The freshman improved to 8-2 this spring, giving the Lady Techsters a 2-1 edge. 
 
UTSA countered though, winning in straight sets at the bottom two spots of the lineup to retake the lead at 3-2.  The lead did not last long as Ilana Tetruashvili produced a 6-3, 7-5 win against Laura Munoz-Baroja at No. 3 to even things up at 3-all. 
 
The deciding match would come at No. 1 between Nadja Manjon and UTSA's Jasmin Starr who came in with just one loss this spring.  Manjon took the first set 6-2, but Starr rebounded to win the second set 6-2 and the third set 7-6 (1).   
 
"Nadja played great and battled to the very end," said Stone.  "I am so proud of her leadership.  We had a strong showing throughout the top of the lineup.  We keep having different players step up and make an impact in our matches.  That's what is special about our team this year, everyone is contributing and every match is a true team effort.
 
"It's a quick turnaround and I'd like to see us grab both doubles points.  It's been the difference maker in the last couple of matches and we need to make a habit of securing that point."
 
LA Tech will player a home doubleheader on Saturday, facing off against Incarnate Word at 10 a.m. and Arkansas State at 2:30 p.m.
 
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