FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The No. 16 Lee University women's tennis first trip to the NCAA Division II South Region Championship came to an end with a 4-3 loss to No. 5 University of West Alabama Tuesday morning at the Nova Southeastern University Tennis Complex.

Third-seeded West Alabama (17-6) grabbed an early lead following the doubles competition. Emiri Takanishi and Alexa Milliam beat Kanna Kobayakawa and Maria Penalver Aguilo 6-2 at the No. 2 position. Ashleigh Simes and Aliyah Dwyer took down Shaira Rivera and Valentina Mutilba 6-3 at No. 1 doubles. Lolita Hukasian and Greta Zawels held off Vitoria Maximiliano and Nicolette Fuhr 6-4 at the third position to secure the doubles point for the Tigers.

The sixth-seeded Lady Flames (13-4) claimed the first two singles matches to take a 2-1 lead before competition was halted for over 12 hours due to inclement weather.

Simes made quick work of Rivera at No. 1 singles 6-1 and 6-2. Dwyer outlasted Mutilba 7-5 in their opening set and completed the straight set win with a 6-3 mark in the second set.

Shortly after restarting Tuesday morning, Milliam completed her three-set win against Penalver Aguilo at No. 3 singles. Milliam won the first set 6-3 and Penalver Aguilo forced a third set with a 6-2 score in the second set. Milliam edged Penalver Aguilo 6-4 in the final frame for the win.

Zawels put UWA ahead with a 6-4, 6-3 defeat of Fuhr at the sixth position. Kobayakawa recovered from a 6-4 loss in her first set against Takanishi to win the next two sets 6-0 and 7-5 to leave the No. 5 singles match as the decider.

Maximiliano won her first set 6-4 but was shut out 6-0 in the second by Hukasian. The tie-breaking match needed its own tiebreaker as Hukasian was able to record a 7-5 tiebreaker score to win the set 7-6 and tally the fourth team point for UWA.


Head Coach Patric Hynes' Thoughts: