Feb. 3, 2009
Box Score TAMU-CC 
Box Score ACU
DALLAS (SMU)-SMU women's tennis (6-0) added two more wins to their stellar record on Monday, February 2 after blanking TAMU-CC (1-2) 4-0 and handing Abilene Christian University (3-1) its first loss of the season at 4-2.
Against the Islanders of TAMU-CC, SMU dominated in singles play where they earned the four wins to take the overall match victory. Senior Natalia Bubien fought her way through a tough first set against Islander Cicak, eventually producing a 7-5 win. Bubien ousted her opponent in the second set, 6-3.
Junior Sophie Quist dropped her first set (5-7) against Nina Circic, and then surged through the next two sets (6-2, 6-3) to claim the victory. Senior Kseniia Tokarieva and junior Pavi Francis were also successful in match play, handily defeating their competition in straight sets.
"I was very pleased how we fought today in our singles. We had a couple of players out due to the flu, and it was encouraging to see their teammates step up and play well. It's also tough to come out and play singles first when you are use to playing doubles to start the match, but the girls fought hard against a much improved TAMU-CC team. Coach Moore has brought in some great players to that team and they are going to surprise a lot of people this year," said head coach Lauren Longbotham-Meisner.
In Monday night's match-up against Abilene Christian, the Mustangs' doubles teams went back to work, collecting the doubles point by sweeping the competition and remaining undefeated. Senior power pair Monica Neveklovska and Kristen Reid seized an 8-1 victory over Wildcats Dina Pavlin and Cassie Carver, while SMU's number one tandem, Bubien and Francis, claimed an 8-3 Mustang win. Quist and junior Casey Kennedy also posted a win (8-4) for SMU.
Kennedy advanced her singles record with a straight set win over ACU's Natalie Friend, after battling through an intense first set (7-6). Bubien and Neveklovska are also undefeated in singles, as both Mustangs won their matches.
"I thought we came out and took care of business in doubles, so I was able to rest two starters from the singles lineup. It also enabled me to let other players step up and get some good matches in. We were not as sharp in our singles matches as I would like, but it was a win and everyone's effort was commendable. Now, we just need to refresh and get our legs back, so that we can be ready for a big weekend in Louisiana," said Longbotham-Meisner.
SMU women's tennis will head to Baton Rouge, La. on Friday, February 6 to take on the LSU Tigers at 12:00 p.m. at the W.T. "Dub" Robinson Stadium.
