Women’s tennis started the Southland Conference tournament strong, trouncing Lamar, 4-0, in the first round Thursday. But the season ended with a 4-3 defeat to the Sam Houston Bearkats in the semifinal round Friday.

The Wildcats won two of three doubles contests in the first round, with the duo of freshman Alison Stewart and senior Jordan Henry earning first point with a 7-5 victory over Bianca Vitale and Natalia Molina.

Junior Sarah Adams and Nini Memishishi defeated Buchta and Vossgaetter, 6-3, while Ilena Mocciola and Autumn Bellow fell by the same score.

Memushishi topped Butcha, 6-4, 6-3 , and Adams finished Vitale, 6-4,6-3.

Freshman Allison Stewart picked up the Wildcats’ first single point after defeating Molina, 6-2, 6-1.

Bellow and Mocciola were both up one point in the third set, while Henry was tied 6-6 with Vossgaetter after winning the first set, 6-2.

“We used our experience and strategy from the last match and kept the same plan to defeat their doubles No. 1 team.” Memishishi said.   

For the semifinal match against Sam Houston, the Wildcats fell short after beating them at home, 4-3, earlier this season.

ACU (15-10) won the doubles point on the No. 2 of Stewart and Henry defeated Yamalapalli and Isidora Zivkovic 7-6 (3) to break the 1-1.

The Wildcats lost the first doubles match at No. 1, 6-2, but sophomore Ilena Mocciola and Bellow evened matters with their 6-3 win over Karla DeLaLuz Montalvo and Petra Kaszas.

Henry and Stewart finished their season competing together at 8-4, while Mocciola/Bellow and Adams/Memishishi had records of 15-9.

The Bearkats did not trail long as they won their first singles matches. Yamalapall defeated Memishishi, 6-1, 6-2, at No. 1, and at lines five and six, Roos Gerritsen and Petra Kaszas avenged their regular-season losses to Wildcats’ Stewart and Mocciola.

Gerritsen handed Stewart her first conference loss of the season through 13 matches, 6-3, 6-3, and Mocciola lost to Kaszas at No. 6, 6-4, 6-3.

The Wildcats hoped and battled to tie the score at 3-3. Adams dropped Zivkovic, 6-2, 7-6 (7-1), and then Bellow topped Montalvo, 6-4, 6-4, for the second time this year.

The tie-breaker was earned by Lusine Chobanyan when her and Henry engaged in the their set. Chobanyan won the first set. Henry won the second, but Chobanyan managed to hold on long enough to win the decisive set, 6-2, sending the Wildcats home.

The last three duals between ACU and Sam Houston State were all decided by one point. Memishishi said the Bearkats are one of the toughest teams in the Southland conference.

“They came out and played very well,” Memishishi said, “ I can not really say anything about my team because they played well and they get credit for the win.”