RUSTON – Playing on their freshly painted courts, Louisiana Tech claimed victories over Southern Arkansas and Louisiana Christian in a home opener doubleheader on a chilly Saturday afternoon at the LA Tech Tennis Complex.
 
LA Tech (3-2) got the better of Southern Arkansas (0-1) in the first match, 5-2, and then followed that up with a 4-0 shutout win over Louisiana Christian (0-1).
 
The Bulldogs started the day by grabbing the doubles point against the Muleriders, ranked 18th in the country in Division II.  The duo of Mio Kozaki and Nina Skoric, fresh off their undefeated start to the season at the Hurricane Invite, made quick work on court three with a 6-0 win.  The freshman duo of Alice Brook and Maria Tsironi followed with a 6-2 victory on court two.
 
To no surprise, it was Zoie Epps getting the 'Dogs off on the right foot in singles.  The sophomore continued her impressive 2024-25 campaign by giving LA Tech its second point, a 6-2, 6-1 win over Maria Fiacan at No. 3.
 
The bottom of the lineup came through to clinch the match as Kozaki cruised to a 6-2, 6-0 win against Roksana Kokocha at No. 5 followed by a dominant 6-0, 6-1 win from Brook versus Camila Corrales at No. 6.
 
SAU was able to grab points on courts one and four, but the final marathon match of the day went the way of Tsironi who came back to down Josie Holderbach 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 at the No. 2 position.
 
LA Tech was right back at it against LCU and the momentum started with another doubles point as Ana Rodrigues/Epps and Brook/Tsironi each tallied 6-1 wins on courts one and two, respectively.
 
Kozaki, Epps, and Rodrigues combined to only allow five games, giving the Bulldogs the necessary three points for the team victory.  Kozaki went 6-0, 6-0 over Alexandra Cedeno at No. 5, Epps won 6-0, 6-1 against Elizaveta Mikhailova at No. 3, and Rodrigues prevailed 6-4, 6-0 versus Ana Ferrer Martinez at the top position.
 
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