Prairie View A&M tennis coach John Cochran wanted to see improvement from his team as they entered their final competition of the fall at the Texas State Play Day. He found it in the final results.
In 2011, the Lady Panthers picked up one victory in the Play Day, but on Saturday in matches against Texas-Pan American, Texas-San Antonio and St. Edwards they came away with three singles victories and a measuring stick for where they stand heading into the spring season.
“Compared to last year the play was totally better,” Cochran said. “Last year we only had one girl win a match. This year we had three people win a match with the possibility of several girls winning two.”
After losing two close matches in doubles play the Lady Panthers went into the singles competition determined to pick up wins. Junior Brittany Harrell started it off with a clutch 7-5, 7-6 win over Lucie Chrastecka from UTPA. Senior Lerato Ndlovu couldn't recover from rocky starts in her 6-3, 6-1 Round 1 loss to Texas State's Gabriella Rojas, but that didn't stop sophomore Christine Ngo Gwodog from defeating UTSA's Mariel Maffezzolli 6-4, 7-5.
In Round 2 Ndlovu elevated her play, but a comeback attempt against Anastasia Burobina of UTPA fell short in a 6-3, 7-5 defeat. Gwodog had a strong start in her second-round match, taking it 6-3. However, her opponent, Chrastecka, rallied to take the next to sets 6-4 and 10-3 to win in three matches. Jade Daniels won her Round 2 singles match against St. Edwards' opponent Summer Biggs. She lost the first set 6-1 and then took the second set 6-1 before an injury forced her opponent to retire in the third set.
“It was good competition, and good play overall,” Cochran said. “We really improved with our play. That will carry us into the new year when we start off with Jacksonville college. We are looking forward to that.”
