HAYS, Kan. – Maria Paz Diaz and Fiorella Mendez each needed a tiebreak to battle out individual wins against Emporia State in a conference match on Saturday. The Hornets took the match as a team though by a score of 5-2, now 6-7 overall and 2-2 in the MIAA. FHSU moved to 6-8 overall and 0-4 in the MIAA.
Emporia State won all three doubles matches for the first team point, but the No. 1 Tiger team of Irina Alfonso and Paz Diaz were able to force a tiebreak in their match. The No. 1 Hornet team prevailed in the tiebreak by a score of 7-4 after 6-3 results in the other two doubles matches already had determined the first point of the match.
All of Emporia State's straight-set wins in singles play netted them enough team points to win the match, but Paz Diaz and Mendez did not go away without a fight. They both won those battles, picking up a pair of team points for the Tigers after the Hornets scored the first five. Paz Diaz took the first set of her match at the No. 2 position 6-3 before Anastasia Pesic won the second set 6-2. Paz Diaz then took the tiebreak by a sizable margin of 10-4. Mendez had a similar path to victory at the No. 5 position, winning the first set 6-3 before Andrea Santiago took the second 6-4. Mendez's tiebreak was tighter at the end, but she came away with a 10-7 victory.
The Tigers won at least four games in all four of their singles match losses. Alfonso won six games at No. 1, Nicole Heyn won five at No. 3, Kylie Aufdengarten won five at No. 4, and Aliyah Frederick won four at No. 6.
Fort Hays State returns to action at home on Sunday (Apr. 10) when it plays host to Newman University at 1 pm.
Apr 10, 2022
🎾 Paz Diaz and Mendez win tiebreaks in singles, ESU tops FHSU
Posted Apr 10, 2022 2:16 AM