CONWAY, Ark. – The Louisiana Tech tennis team registered seven victories on day one and eight more on day two to round out its first fall tournament at the UCA Invitational in Conway, Arkansas.
 
Junior Alexia Romero paced the squad in singles by winning Flight 6 with a trio of straight-set wins.  She disposed of Mary Houston (Missouri State) 6-0, 6-1 and Rebecca Brody (Arkansas State) 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday before downing Teona Velkoska (SEMO) 7-5, 6-1 in the finals.
 
Three Lady Techsters placed third in their respective flights, including sophomore Leonie Schuknecht who overpowered Tiffani Nash (Missouri State) 6-2, 6-2 and then rebounded from a semifinal loss in a super breaker to outlast Chunxi Xin (Central Arkansas) 6-4, 6-4 in Flight 1.
 
Sophomore Olga Bienzobas had a similar path in Flight 3, cruising to a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Alyson Piskulic (Missouri State) before falling in hard-fought super breaker in the semis.  She bounced back on Monday to defeat Pei-Yu Lai (SEMO) 6-3, 6-2.
 
Ana Rodrigues, playing in her first collegiate matches, placed third as well in Flight 5.  She too took down a player from Missouri State, upending Tiera Jarmond 6-1, 6-3.  After falling in straight sets, the freshman won a marathon match over Dorota Szczygielska (Northwestern State) 6-7, 6-4, 1-0 (2).
 
LA Tech recovered from dropping all three doubles matches on day one to go a combined 4-2 in dubs on day two.  The duo of Leonie Schuknecht and Ilana Tetruashvili picked up where they left off last spring, claiming victories of 6-4 and 7-6 (6) over the top two doubles teams from SEMO.
 
QUOTABLES
Assistant coach Claudia Oravcova
 
"I am very proud of how the team competed over these long two days of competition.  This tournament was a good indicator of where we are as a team right now and what we need to focus on moving forward.  We showed a lot of toughness and competed well in all flights.  This team has a lot of potential and we are excited about our future events."
 
NOTABLES

• LA Tech registered 15 victories in its first fall tournament (UCA Invitational).They opened the 2020 fall season at the same event where they claimed just six wins.
• Six of the seven Lady Techsters participating recorded at least two wins in the tournament
• Alexia Romero went undefeated in singles for the second time in her career at a fall tournament
• Leonie Schuknecht and Alexia Romero tied for the team lead with four total wins
• Leonie Schuknecht went 2-1 in singles and 2-1 in doubles, all from the top Flight

UP NEXT
LA Tech returns to the courts on Oct. 14 when they take part in the ITA Southern Regionals, hosted by the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
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