A pair of come-from-behind wins in singles play lifted the Arkansas Tech Golden Suns to a 5-4 victory over the Harding Lady Bisons in Great American Conference tennis action at the Chartwells Women’s Sports Complex in Russellville on Monday.
Arkansas Tech’s Maria Aleman and Rachel Stevens rallied for three-set victories in their singles matches as the Golden Suns (11-5 overall, 3-0 GAC) won their sixth consecutive match.
Harding (16-5, 2-1) led the match 4-3 with two singles matches still on the court.
Aleman dropped the first set 6-2 to Harding’s Gina Cielo, but she bounced back to win the next two sets 6-4 and 6-3 to take the match.
Stevens faced an even tougher match. After she and Harding’s Callie Huey split the first two sets, the third and decisive set went to a tiebreaker. Stevens won that tiebreaker 7-3 to take the match.
Arkansas Tech is now in the driver’s seat to claim the inaugural GAC women’s tennis regular season championship.
The Golden Suns have three regular season conference matches remaining — Wednesday, April 4 at Ouachita Baptist; at home against East Central on Friday, April 6; and at home against Henderson State on Friday, April 13.
If Arkansas Tech can win all three of those matches, it will earn just its second conference title in women’s tennis. The Golden Suns were Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference champions in 1995.
Below are complete results from Arkansas Tech’s win over Harding on Monday:
Arkansas Tech 5, Harding 4
April 2, 2012 (Chartwells Women’s Sports Complex)
Doubles
Mariel Alvarez/Akanesi Fa (Tech) def. Benyapa Phumtip/Ling Chan (HU) 8-5
Rachel Stevens/Maria Aleman (Tech) def. Katie Huff/Chelsea Hunt (HU) 8-3
Gina Cielo/Callie Huey (HU) def. Brittany Turner/Nina Greenway (Tech) 8-4
Singles
Mariel Alvarez (Tech) def. Ling Chan (HU) 6-4, 6-0
Benyapa Phumtip (HU) def. Akanesi Fa (Tech) 6-2, 6-0
Chelsea Hunt (HU) def. Aida Castany (Tech) 6-3, 6-1
Maria Aleman (Tech) def. Gina Cielo (HU) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
Rachel Stevens (Tech) def. Callie Huey (HU) 6-7 (7-9), 6-2, 7-6 (7-3)
Katie Huff (HU) def. Nina Greenway (Tech) 6-3, 6-1
Click here to learn more about Arkansas Tech tennis.
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