RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas Tech freshman women's tennis player
Monica Balau had a banner day in her young career as a Golden Sun as she won her top-flight singles match against a nationally-ranked opponent to give Tech their lone point against No. 29-ranked Missouri Western.
Balau, a native of Castellón, Spain, also picked up a win in top-flight doubles along with partner
Melanie Griffiths. The top Tech pairing was recently ranked by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) as the No. 44 doubles team in NCAA Division II.
In her singles match, Balau faced off with No. 27-ranked Anya Chavez and rallied from a set down to defeat Chavez in a 10-point tiebreaker. Prior to that singles triumph, Balau and Griffiths won their top-flight doubles match 6-4.
That doubles match was the second to finish and evened things at one apiece in doubles. Unfortunately, the Golden Suns were on the down side of a tiebreaker in the final doubles match, flight three, falling 6-7 (7).
Once in singles action, Missouri Western won at flights six, five and three to clinch the match. Prior to the match being clinched, however,
Sofia Beggiatto split sets at flight four and went on to play a full third-set tiebreaker. Beggiatto's match ended last and she narrowly lost 7-6 (3).
The Golden Suns will now prepare for their next match on the road at Collin County Community College. That match is scheduled to be played on Thursday, March 21.
