Women's tennis defeats Jackson State, falls to Southern Miss

(Photo/Zenith Shrestha)The women's tennis team saw its four-game winning streak snapped against Southern Miss.Hanna CooperStaff Writer The women’s tennis team traveled to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, last weekend and defeated Jackson State before falling to host Southern Miss. The win over Jackson State put the team at a four-game winning streak before seeing that streak snapped against the Golden Eagles. The Trojans are now 5-3 on the season with Sun Belt Conference play starting in a little more than a week. The Trojans downed Jackson State 4-2 powered by big performances from Anastasiia Khokhlova and Anastasiia Khrustaleva. In No. 1 doubles, Khrustaleva and Khokhlova defeated Iesha Sheperd and Sherine Salem 6-1 to claim a 1-0 advantage. In the second match in doubles play, Matea Mihaljevic and Shevita Aulana took down Robin Alston and Sofia Beggiatto by a score of 6-2. The win clinched the doubles point for the Trojans on the day. In singles, Mihaljevic took the match 4-1 due to Alston retiring in the first set, giving Troy a 2-1 lead. Khokhlova grabbed a singles victory 6-1, 6-2 over Salem to give Troy the 3-1 lead. Troy’s Tijana Svitlica fell to Sofia Beggiato 6-4, 6-3 to make the score 3-2 in favor of the Trojans. Khrustaleva clinched the match for the Trojans by defeating Noelle Frenzel, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4. On Sunday, however, the Trojans fell to the host, Southern Mississippi. Southern Miss defeated Troy’s No. 1 and No. 2 doubles to claim doubles points. The first match to conclude in singles play came from No. 6 singles as Tanit Lopez of Southern Miss came away with the victory because Troy did not have a player in No. 6 singles. This victory made the score 2-0 in favor of the Golden Eagles. Khokhlova took on Katia De La Garza in No. 2 singles. De La Garza took the match 6-3, 7-6 giving the Golden Eagles a 3-0 lead. The Trojans fell in the final three singles matches to give Southern Miss the 6-0 lead. Troy’s lone win came when Mihaljevic defeated Arina Amaning to avoid the sweep. The team will be back in action Thursday at 2 p.m. when the Trojans take on Samford at the Lunsford Tennis Complex. Then the Trojans hit the road to take on the Clemson Tigers in Clemson, South Carolina, this Sunday at 5 p.m.