St. Joseph, Mo. – After a long time coming, the women's tennis team was back in action. Their 2021 season opening day was a two-match sweep over Arkansas Tech and Augustana.
 
Match One
In the first match of the day, the Bearcats took on Arkansas Tech. The Golden Suns began with a 6-4 win on court 3 in doubles play. SBU evened things up with a 7-5 victory on court 1 thanks to Dona Abohabaga and Diana Cabrera. In an exciting match on court 2, Catarina Zheng and Elsa Pascual got the 7-6 (7-4) tiebreaker to win the doubles point.
 
The Bearcats swept singles play on courts 1-5, with Arkansas Tech's only point coming from an opponent retirement on court 6. Elsa Pascual was the first Bearcat done, winning 6-1 6-2 on court 4. Next to finish was Catarina Zheng, winning the court 2 battle by scores of 6-1 6-2 as well. Dona Abohabaga won the match-sealing point on court 1 in straight sets of 6-3 6-0. The fifth point was claimed by Lola Cincunegui with a 6-3 6-3 score on court 5. Diana Cabrera wrapped up the scoring for SBU, winning her match on court 3.
 
Match Two
The second match of the day was much closer, but the Bearcats were down one player. Augustana managed to claim the doubles point, taking the default win on court three and a 6-3 victory on court 1. Catarina Zheng and Elsa Pascual defeated their opponents 7-5 on court 2, but the point had already been won by the Vikings.
 
Augustana quickly took a 3-0 lead, as they got a default point on court 6 and they won 6-3 6-4 on court 1. SBU then won the next four matches, starting with Diana Cabrera on court 3 with a 6-0 6-2 victory. Lola Cincunegui followed by defeating her opponent 6-1 6-4 on court 5. Elsa Pascual tied the score at 3-3 thanks to her 6-3 6-2 win on court 4. Sealing the 4-3 win for SBU was Catarina Zheng in an exciting second set. She won 6-4 in the first set and defeated her opponent 7-6 (7-6) in the second set after trailing big in the tiebreak.
 
The team will head to Washington-St. Louis on February 13 for their next competition.