CLEVELAND, Miss. – The Lee University women's tennis team opened its GSC season with a 4-3 win at Delta State University. The Lady Flames improved to 2-0 and 1-0 in the GSC), while the Statesmen lost for the first time this season to fall to 5-1 overall and 0-1 in the GSC.

Andrea Pascual Blanca and Rima Yoshida blanked Amelia Ciesielczyk and Trinity Ly 6-0 at No. 1 doubles. Jasmine Ibegbulam and Vitória Maximiliano beat Lena Kuehn and Angie Moreno 6-3 to secure the doubles point for the Lady Flames. Aliyan Dwyer and Maria Fernanda Duarte  were tied 3-3 with Anastasi Iakovlieva and Yasmina Mayer when the doubles competition was determined.

Blanca took down Ly 6-1, 6-0 at No. 2 singles to push the Lee advantage to 2-0. Yoshida, ranked No. 37, overcame a first set loss (6-4) to Ciesielczyk with 6-2 and 6-3 margins in the next two sets to win at No. 1 singles.

Mayer put Delta State on the board with a three-set win over Dwyer at the third position. Dwyer won the opening set 6-3 before Mayer fought back to win the second and third sets 7-5 and 6-1. Iakovlieva pulled the home team within one at 3-2 with a 6-2, 6-2 defeat of Maximiliano.

The Statesmen tied the team score at 3-3 following Moreno's 6-0, 6-4 win against Ibegbulam at the sixth spot, leaving the No. 5 singles match between Duarte and Kuehn to decide the team winner.

Duarte won the opening set 6-3, then outlasted Kuehn 7-5 in the second set to clinch the match for the Lady Flames.

The Lady Flames are scheduled to be in Jefferson City, Tennessee, on Tuesday to take on Carson-Newman University. The non-conference matchup is set for a 2 p.m. start.
 
Coach Patric Hynes' thoughts:
"We stuck together in tough moments today and found a way. Really strong doubles point and Andrea played a very strong singles match. When it came down to Nanda, I had full faith that she would come through. We've seen her do it so many times. She just has the resilience and ability to embrace that moment."