NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - The Belmont Bruins fought hard but couldn't find the right spots as they fell 4-3 to Tarleton State Saturday in the Hadley Tennis Center.
After the pairing of Viktoria Kliimand and Anastasiya Zholdakova fell on court one to Deniza Marcinkevica and Jemi Aguilar 6-3, Belmont needed some momentum. Insert the pair of Gina Feistel and Meredith Roberts. Feistel, the freshman from Germany, and Roberts, the senior from Mississippi, pulled away to take their doubles' match 6-3 over Natalia Komar and Faustine Palatte
Now tied, Belmont seniors Peyton Lee and Somer Henry got out to a 4-1 lead over Elsa Boisson and Martha Makantasi. While the Texans' pair tried to come back and cut the lead down to 5-4, Lee and Henry finished the job to seal the doubles' point for the Bruins.
Kicking off the singles' scoring, Henry handled her business against Aguilar on court two: 6-4, 6-2. It seemed the seniors for Belmont brought home the bacon quickest as Lee also closed out her singles' match against Komar with a 6-1, 6-2 sweep.
Outside of Henry and Lee, the Bruins freshmen trio of Zholdakova, Feistel and Kliimand all fell short by a few swings. Still, inspiration came in many forms for the future of these players. First, Feistel fought back from down 1-0 to tie her match on court one against Marcinkevica before losing in three. Second, Zholdakova came back in set one against Makantasi to win 7-6 after trailing 5-1.
The is Belmont's first loss this spring, dropping them to 2-1. Now, they must hurry down to Bristol, Tennessee for a road match against ETSU at noon on Sunday.
Belmont vs Tarleton State
DOUBLES
J. Aguilar/D. Marcinkevica def. V. Kliimand/A. Zholdakova (BU) – 6-3
G. Feistel/M. Roberts (BU) def. N. Komar/F. Palatte – 6-3
S. Henry/P. Lee (BU) def. E. Boisson/M. Makantasi – 6-4
SINGLES
Deniza Marcinkevica def. Gina Feistel (BU) – 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3
Somer Henry (BU) def. J. Aguilar – 6-4, 6-2
Martha Makantasi def. Anastasiya Zholdakova (BU) – 6-7 (3), 7-5, 6-4
Elsa Boisson def. Meredith Roberts (BU) – 6-3, 6-0
Celia Vaudiau def. Viktoria Kliimand (BU) – 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5)
Peyton Lee (BU) def. Natalia Komar – 6-1, 6-2
