SE Sports
Matt Thomas, Sports Information Director
DURANT – No. 23 Southeastern women’s tennis punched its first ever ticket to the NCAA National Finals Tournament after downing No. 21 Southwest Baptist 5-2 on Tuesday afternoon in the Central Region 2 Final at the Southeastern Tennis Complex.
The win moves the Savage Storm to 20-2 overall on the year and will put them into the final 16 with a May 10 matchup at 8 a.m. against the top seed in the East Region No. 33 New York Institute of Technology in Altamonte Springs, Fla.
SE again used its doubles strength to open strong, with the pair of Maria Martinez and Luisa Auffarth cruising to an 8-0 win at three doubles over SBU’s Sarah Brown and Beatrix Federer.
The Bearcats answered when Lara Soares and Lani Tuemmers upset Alexsandra Reljic and Darija Catipovic at the one spot to event he match at 1-1.
The duo of Anna Buiukian and Samantha Coquinos would win the rubber match in doubles as they toppled Lucia Diaz and Klara Vickov 8-6 to leave doubles with a 2-1 lead.
The lead quickly grew to 3-1 as Auffarth continued her dominating ways with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Zorana Jovanovic at the six position.
Buiukian followed right behind at the two position by turning in a 6-1, 6-3 win over Tuemmers to open up a 4-1 lead and put the Storm in a position to clinch with its next win.
SBU would stave off that celebration with Vickov picking up a 6-2, 6-4 win over Catipovic at the four position to close the score to 4-2.
That was as long as SE would have to wait though as Coquinos would hold on for a 6-4, 7-5 win over Diaz in the three spot to clinch the 5-2 regional final victory.
NCAA Division II Women’s Tennis Central Region No. 2
No. 2 Southeastern Oklahoma State vs. No. 3 Southwest Baptist
May 2, 2017 | 1 p.m.
Durant, OK | Southeastern Tennis Complex
DOUBLES
No. 1 Lara Soares/Lani Tuemmers (SBU) d.
Alexsandra Reljic/Darija Catipovic (SE), 8-5
No. 2 Anna Buiukian/Samantha Coquinos (SE) d.
Lucia Diaz/Klara Vickov (SBU), 8-6
No. 3 Maria Martinez/Luisa Auffarth (SE) d.
Sarah Brown/Beatrix Federer (SBU), 8-0
Order: No. 3, No. 1, No. 2
SINGLES
No. 1 Alexsandra Reljic (SE) vs. Lara Soares (SBU), 6-6 UNF
No. 2 Anna Buiukian(SE) d. Lani Tuemmers (SBU), 6-1, 6-3
No. 3 Samantha Coquinos (SE) d. Lucia Diaz (SBU), 6-4, 7-5
No. 4 Klara Vickov (SBU) d. Darija Catipovic (SE), 6-2, 6-4
No. 5 Maria Martinez (SE) vs. Sarah Brown (SBU), 6-2, 5-4 UNF
No. 6 Luisa Auffarth (SE) d. Zorana Jovanovic (SBU), 6-1, 6-4
Order: No. 6, No. 2, No. 4, No. 3