TENNIS: LeTourneau men, McMurry women victorious in YellowJackets' season-opener
LONGVIEW – The threat of inclement weather brought tennis season to LeTourneau a day early as the YellowJacket teams opened their season Friday evening against McMurry.
The sudden start to the season did little to deter the YellowJackets men's team, which defeated the Warhawks by a score of 5-4. The McMurry women claimed a 9-0 win over LeTourneau.
LeTOURNEAU MEN 5, McMURRY 4
The YellowJackets won two out of three doubles matches, which proved to be the difference as LeTourneau edged the No. 12 team from the West Region of the NCAA's Division III.
Kendall Beggs (Lindale, Texas) and Sindre Johnsgaard (Kongsberg, Norway) defeated McMurry's Preston Steblein and Alex Johnson by a score of 8-4 in Flight 2 competition.
Johnsgaard, who enrolled at LeTourneau in January, made his LeTourneau debut on Friday.
Taylor Gregoire (Farmington, N.M.) and Will Cazares (Harlingen, Texas) had little trouble defeating Donald Matthews and Colby Frehauf, claiming an 8-3 win for the YellowJackets in Flight 3.
Carlos Cantu (Brownsville, Texas) and Josh Bailey (Kilgore, Texas) dropped an 8-2 decision in Flight 1 doubles to McMurry duo Chris Breaux and Casjen Rico.
"The two wins in doubles competition really set the tone for the match," LeTourneau head coach Peter Hantack said.
In singles play, it was the bottom half of the lineup that claimed victory, as Bailey, Cazares and Gregoire helped the Jackets edge McMurry. Bailey was the only LeTourneau player to sweep, defeating Johnson by scores of 6-3 and 6-4 in Flight 4.
Cazares (Flight 5) and Gregoire (Flight 6) posted nearly identical scores in their matches, as they each dropped their openers 4-6 before recovering with 6-2 wins in the second set.
Cazares defeated Matthews 10-7 in their tiebreaker match, while Gregoire won a hard-fought 10-8 tiebreaker from Frehauf.
Cantu gave Breaux everything he could handle in a competitive Flight 1 match. Breaux won the first set 6-2, but Cantu rallied to win the second set 7-6 with a 7-5 tiebreaker win to knot the match. Breaux prevailed 10-5 in the third set.
Singles competition
1. Chris Breaux (MCMURRY) def. Carlos Cantu (LETU) 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 10-5
2. Casjen Rico (MCMURRY) def. Sindre Johnsgaard (LETU) 7-5, 6-3
3. Preston Steblein (MCMURRY) def. Kendall Beggs (LETU) 5-7, 6-2, 10-2
4. Josh Bailey (LETU) def. Alex Johnson (MCMURRY) 6-3, 6-4
5. Will Cazares (LETU) def. Donald Matthews (MCMURRY) 4-6, 6-2, 10-7
6. Taylor Gregoire (LETU) def. Colby Frehauf (MCMURRY) 4-6, 6-2, 10-8
Doubles competition
1. Chris Breaux/Casjen Rico (MCMURRY) def. Josh Bailey/Carlos Cantu (LETU) 8-2
2. Kendall Beggs/Sindre Johnsgaard (LETU) def. Preston Steblein/Alex Johnson (MCMURRY) 8-4
3. Taylor Gregoire/Will Cazares (LETU) def. Donald Matthews/Colby Frehauf (MCMURRY) 8-3
McMURRY WOMEN 9, LeTOURNEAU 0
The Division II-bound Warhawks proved to be too much for the LeTourneau women on Friday as the Warhawks claimed a 9-0 victory.
The Warhawks improved to 5-0 with the win. McMurry, which is playing in its final season as a Division III program, has already defeated two Division II teams this season.
Kayla Bonina (Carrollton, Texas) gave her opponent the most trouble Friday, as Chelsea Miller prevailed 7-6 (7-4) and 6-4 in the longest match of the evening in Flight 4. Playing in the last match of the evening, Bonina and Miller had the full attention of their teammates until the end of the match at approximately 11:20 p.m.
Lacey Krusmark needed an extra point in the opening set of Flight 3 to edge April McCamey (Stephenville, Texas) 7-5 before taking the match with a 6-0 score in set two.
Friday's match also marked the debut of Shelby May (Callisburg, Texas). A January transfer from North Central Texas College, May faced McMurry's Hilary Stone in Flight 6 singles competition and then teamed with Miranda Lamb (Burkburnett, Texas) in Flight 3 doubles play.
The YellowJackets teams return to action Thursday when they host Howard Payne at 3 p.m. The match will kick off a full weekend of LeTourneau tennis, as the women play four home matches in three days, concluding with two the following Saturday.
The Jackets men will also play two matches on Saturday, as both teams host Southwestern and Mary Hardin-Baylor.
Singles competition
1. Dana LeMieux (MCMURRY) def. Sarah Case (LETU) 6-1, 6-3
2. Sonia Del Heirro (MCMURRY) def. Miranda Lamb (LETU) 6-2, 6-0
3. Lacey Krusmark (MCMURRY) def. April McCamey (LETU) 7-5, 6-0
4. Chelsea Miller (MCMURRY) def. Kayla Bonina (LETU) 7-6 (7-4), 6-4
5. Brandy Curry (MCMURRY) def. Ali Goodwin (LETU) 6-0, 6-2
6. Hilary Stone (MCMURRY) def. Shelby May (LETU) 6-1, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. Dana LeMieux/Brandy Curry (MCMURRY) def. Sarah Case/April McCamey (LETU) 8-3
2. Sonia Del Heirro/Lacey Krusmark (MCMURRY) def. Kayla Bonina/Ali Goodwin (LETU) 8-2
3. Hilary Stone/Chelsea Miller (MCMURRY) def. Shelby May/Miranda Lamb (LETU) 8-2
