SEARCY, Ark. – The Arkansas Tech women's tennis team opened up their Great American Conference portion of their schedule on Tuesday afternoon on the road at Harding. The Golden Suns would be shutout in the match, 7-0.
Despite being held scoreless in the team match, the Golden Suns did pick up a match victory in doubles play, winning at line two. The duo of
Elis Gergel and
Maria Krite beat the Harding pairing of Natalia Alvarez and Itza Rogel, 7-5.
In singles play, Harding would win at all six lines in straight sets, but the Golden Suns were extremely competitive at lines one, two and four. In lines one and two, the Golden Suns faced nationally-ranked opponents.
Monica Balau played the No. 13-ranked singles player Alexia Zarate Valdez at the top line. Balau pushed the opening set beyond the usual six games won, ultimately falling 5-7. In the second set, Balau lost 3-6.
Gergel played the second ranked singles player in No. 35-ranked Karli Roux. Gergel would fall 3-6 and 6-4.
The Golden Suns will now prepare for a home match against Southern Arkansas on Monday, April 7. First-serve is scheduled for 3 p.m. from the Chartwells Women's Sports Complex.
