RUSTON – In a close conference matchup on Friday afternoon, Louisiana Tech fell 4-1 to Southern Miss at the LA Tech Tennis Complex.
 
Nearly every set was close between LA Tech (16-4, 2-1 C-USA) and USM (12-2, 2-0 C-USA) as nine of the 14 completed sets went at least 10 games and three of them went into tiebreakers.
 
Two such sets occurred in doubles, an opening point that went the way of the Golden Eagles.  After the visiting team secured a 6-3 win on court two, LA Tech had multiple match points at the same time up 5-4 on courts one and three.  USM battled back and was able to even both at 5-all. 
 
The top duo of Leonie Schuknecht and Ana Rodrigues rebounded, winning back-to-back games to take it 7-5.  The other court went into a tiebreaker where the Golden Eagles won seven straight points to go up 1-0 in the team match.
 
The close sets continued on into singles.  The two teams each took the first set on three courts, but USM picked up two wins (6-4, 6-4 on court four and 6-4, 6-3 on court three) to go up 3-0.
 
Alexia Romero made the most of her return to the singles lineup by delivering a 7-6, 6-3 victory over Alyssa Richter to give LA Tech its first point of the day.  With Tiffani Nash up a set on court five and Olga Bienzobas trying to force a third set on court two, Schuknecht fell to Ebru Zeynep Yazgan by a score of 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 for the fourth and deciding point.
 
QUOTABLES
Head coach Amanda Stone
 
"It was a good match today.  I thought we came out with the right intensity and doubles came down to a matter of points.  We battled hard in singles and I am proud of our fight.  It will be a quick turnaround against another tough conference team and we will have to tighten up our execution.  We will rest and reload for a good fight with UAB on Sunday."
 
NOTABLES

• With the loss, LA Tech now leads the all-time series with Southern Miss, 7-4.
• Leonie Schuknecht and Ana Rodrigues improved to 13-4 on dual doubles, the most wins on the team.Their last three matches have been by set scores of 7-5.
• After sitting out the last two matches in singles, Alexia Romero picked up her 10th victory of the season.She is now 10-5 overall and 9-3 from the No. 6 position.
• Despite her match not finishing, Tiffani Nash has now won 11 of her 13 sets she has played this spring.

UP NEXT
LA Tech returns to the courts on Sunday, April 3 to face C-USA foe UAB.  First serve is set for 10 a.m. at the LA Tech Tennis Complex.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
For all the latest in LA Tech Tennis, follow them on Twitter (@LATechTennis), Instagram (@LATechTennis) and Facebook (LATechTennis).