NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Prairie View A&M Lady Panthers visited East Texas this week for a pair of matches against UTSA and host Stephen F. Austin.
 
Though the Lady Panthers dropped both matches to fall to 0-3 for the season, the team showed improvement as they faced tough competition from the Southland Conference (SFA) and Conference USA (UTSA).
 
Prairie View A&M opens their home schedule Sunday when the Lady Panthers host the Rajin' Cajuns of Louisiana. The match is scheduled for a 10 a.m. start.
 
UTSA 6, Prairie View A&M 1 (Box Score)
The weekend in the Piney Woods also brought the team their first individual victory of the season, as freshman Neharika Rama defeated UTSA's Alena Shichkova 7-5, 6-4 in flight three singles on Saturday.
 
In the opening set, Rama had built a 5-1 lead before Shichkova clawed her way back to tie the set at 5-5. Rama, regrouped and won the next two games for a 7-5 victory. In set two, Shichkova jumped out to a 4-1 lead before Rama stormed back to win the next five games and take the match.
 
Saturday's flight four match saw Stacy Lackey force 22 games out of UTSA's Nicole Karaklis, who prevailed in a lengthy 6-4, 7-5 decision. PVAMU's Timara Maxwell dropped a close first set to Lina Hallgren in flight six by a score of 7-5 before losing the second set 6-0. Flight one saw Sydney Thomas give a competitive match to Miriam Rosell Canudas.
 
In doubles play, Rama and Maxwell were tied at 5-5 with Shichkova and Karakils before the match was halted with UTSA victorious in the other two doubles competitions.
 
Stephen F. Austin 7, Prairie View A&M 0 (Box Score)
Friday's opening match against host Stephen F. Austin featured the Lady Panthers' first three-set match of 2016. Shaddae Findley and SFA's Lauren Hidalgo-Smith competed in a lengthy flight five duel, with the Ladyjacks' competitor prevailing 6-1, 1-6, 6-3.
 
Rama and Lackey both played competitively in flights three and four, respectively, with each player falling by scores of 6-4, 6-2. Rama faced Valeria Terentyeva in flight three, while Lackey matched up against Vanesa Calvo Pardo.
 
In flight six, Maxwell fell 6-1 in the opening set to Liza Aginskaya before forcing 10 games in a 6-4 loss in the deciding set.