FHSU Athletics
HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State Tennis improved to 12-5 overall and 2-3 in the MIAA with a 6-1 win over Arkansas-Fort Smith in Hays on Friday. The Tigers took two of three doubles matches for the first point, then won five of six singles contests to close out the win. The Tigers reached 12 wins in a season for the first time in 20 years and still have several matches to play yet. They last reached 12 during the 2004-05 season and it is the first time reaching the mark in their tenure with the MIAA, which began in 2006-07.
In the victory, a pair of Tigers also reached school records. Suzana Faucz now holds the record for most combined wins in a season by a freshman with 32. She passed Robin Horan's record of 30 set in 1997. Irina Alfonso is now tied for the school record for most combined wins in a season with 35, matching Helen Brooks' record set in 2005.Faucz took over the freshman record for wins when she and Irina Alfonso won their No. 2 doubles match 6-2 to help secure the first team point of the match. The No. 3 team of Yone Pereiro and Ines Latorre also won by a score of 6-2. The No. 1 team of Shreethika Vangala and Janae Montoya fell 6-3, but the team point was already secured..
Three straight-set wins in singles play helped put FHSU up 4-0 and secure the team win. Alfonso breezed through her No. 2 match 6-0, 6-1 to move into a tie for the single-season record for wins overall, now with 17 singles wins and 18 doubles wins. Grace Unruh won the No. 6 match 6-1, 6-2, and Bethan Gill won the No. 5 match 6-2, 6-2.
Faucz rallied to win her No. 3 singles contest after falling in the first set 7-5. She won the second 6-1 and then took the third-set tiebreak 10-5. Pereiro was up a set, winning 6-4, before falling 3-6 in the second. However, she battled past her opponent at the No. 4 position, also with a 10-5 win in the third-set tiebreak. Vangala was the only Tiger who fell in singles action, 6-3, 6-2 at the No. 1 position.
UP NEXT
Fort Hays State returns to action on Saturday (Apr. 12) when it plays host to Northeastern State at 12 p.m.