Lady Saints Open Season With Win Over No. 7 St. Pete

PLANO, Texas - The Seward County women's tennis team enters the 2019 spring season with high expectations after being ranked number five in the ITA National Polls.  They didn't dissappoint in their opening match, defeating the 7th ranked St. Petersburg Titans 6-3 Friday morning in Texas.

Seward started the morning by sweeping the doubles points.  Eva Liu and Alisa Handrugan finished their match first with an 8-4 win over Karla Ortega and Maja Rulj in the No. 3 spot.  Patricia Panta and Maria Aveiga wrapped up their battle in the No. 1 doubles spot with a decisive 8-4 win over Anastasiya Salenko and Saki Matsubara, before Sofia Belluco and Alena Macharova escaped with a 9-7 win over Barbara Damiani and  Ann Kathrin Wirlitsch in the No. 2 spot.

The Lady Saints split the singles matches, but it was enough to earn the team win over the Titans.  Macharova picked up the win the in the No. 3 singles spot with a 6-2, 7-6(1) win over Ortega. Newcomer Belluco defeated St. Pete's Damiani 7-5, 6-4 in the No. 4 spot and sophomore Liu pulled out a hard-fought 6-4, 5-7, 10-7 win in the No. 6 spot over Rulj.

The Lady Saints will wrap up the Collin College Super Bash in Plano tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. when they face Collin College.