SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich.- In their home opening match, the Lake Superior State women's tennis team bounced back from a 4-3 deficit to claim the 5-4 team victory.
The Lakers (1-2, 1-2 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) led 2-1 following doubles play. Lakers top pairing of Tara Harvey and Jenay Andrews defeated Walsh's Sofya Logunova and Snezhana Kiseleva, 8-5. Laura Fernandez and Macarena Bielsa followed with an 8-6 win over Dari Bondareva and Victoria Ambrosio in No. 2 doubles.
The Cavaliers (0-3, 0-3 GLIAC) took the last doubles match with an 8-6 win from Mercedes Fernanez and Gabriela Laguna-Leon over Laura Roberts and Allison Grandfield.
The top three singles matches all went in favor of Walsh as the visitors quickly took a 4-3 lead. Logunova topped Harvey 7-6 (8), 6-1 in No. 1 singles, Fernanz claimed a 7-5, 7-5 win over Roberts and Bondareva defeated Bielsa 6-3, 6-3 in No. 3 singles.
LSSU fought back and eeked out a trio of three-set matches for the final three points to come back and earn the 5-4 victory.
Fernandez started the comeback bid with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-0 win over Ambrosio. Andrews bounced back to tie the match with a 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-3 victory over Kiseleva in No. 5 singles. In the deciding match, Grandfield fought back from a 6-4 loss in the first set to claim the final two sets 6-1, 6-5 over Laguna-Leon.
The Lakers cap the weekend with a 10 a.m. match against Ashland on Sunday and have next week off before returning home against Saginaw Valley State on Oct. 1 and Northwood on Oct. 2. All home LSSU tennis matches begin at 10 a.m. and admission is free to the public.
