RUSTON – It was a back-and-forth battle between Louisiana Tech and Stephen F. Austin on a chilly, Sunday afternoon.
 
Tied up at 3-all, the match came down to court four singles where Alexia Romero delivered a 9-7 tiebreaker win in the second set to clinch the 4-3 victory for the Lady Techsters in their home opener at the LA Tech Tennis Complex.
 
Playing in their first home dual match at their facility since April 9, 2019, LA Tech (2-2) found itself down early after dropping the doubles point.  However, the top of the singles lineup was stellar, sweeping positions one, two and three and getting the final point on Romero's court to close things out.
 
"It's always great to win at home and we had a great crowd there today to cheer us on," said head coach Amanda Stone.  "SFA really put up a fight and we had to battle in singles to clinch.  Going down into singles is always tough.  Everyone had to step up and be accountable in their lines."
 
The first win of the day came from LA Tech's doubles duo of Anastasiia Salenko and Claudia Oravcova who made quick work of Lucy Furness and Elena Bleicher at No. 3, winning 6-1.
 
SFA (2-1) responded however, taking wins on courts one and two by the final scores of 6-3 and 6-4, respectively, to take the early lead.
 
The rollercoaster match swayed back in the favor of the Lady Techsters, starting with Leonie Schuknecht.  The freshman recorded a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Paula Cerda at the No. 1 spot. 
 
Not long after, Ilana Tetruashvili gave LA Tech its first team lead of the match after overpowering Nyah Kauders at the No. 3 position with a 6-3, 6-1 victory. 
 
The Ladyjacks tied things up at 2-2, thanks to Furness' 6-4, 6-4 win on court five, but Anastasiia Salenko grabbed a crucial point for the Lady Techsters on court two.  The junior cruised in the first set, 6-0, before her opponent Zala Ule rebounded to force a third set.  Down 3-2, Salenko dug deep and reeled off four straight games to take the match 6-0, 4-6, 6-3. 
 
SFA's Ai Noa Fabre soon made it 3-3, coming out on top at No. 6, making court four the deciding match between Romero and Annie Walker.  Romero won the first set, 7-5, and was down 5-2 in the second before winning three straight games to get back into the set, which ultimately went into a tiebreaker.
 
The sophomore was up 5-3, but Walker collected three straight points to have a set point.  Romero fought the point off, and ended up taking it, 9-7, in dramatic fashion. 
 
"Leonie and Ilana got us some quick momentum that helped Anastasiia close out," said Stone.  "Alexia stepped up huge.  She stayed composed and aggressive in her tiebreaker giving us the clinch.
 
"We have some lessons to learn from today, but all in all, we are happy to earn the win and are looking forward to our upcoming matches."
 
LA Tech returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 6 with a home doubleheader against Grambling State, starting at 2 p.m. 
 
For all the latest in LA Tech Tennis, follow them on Twitter (@LATechTEN), Instagram (@LATechTennis) and Facebook (LATechTennis).