THE LEAD
The Lady Patriots extended their record to 4-1 for the season with a win against University of Central Oklahoma.  The doubles were closely contested on all three courts.  Court #2 of Liz Slaughter and Mikayla Rinker carried a substantial lead of 7-4 when their opponents brought it back to 7-6.  Mikayla served to close out the match 8-6 with Liz dominating at the net.  With the Patriots up 1-0, both #3 doubles of Bianca Tijerina and Skylar McDonald was tied at 6-6 as well as the #1 doubles team of Lacey Sprinkel and Ana Banic.  #3 secured their point with an 8-6 score and with DBU up 2-0, the final doubles match came down to the wire.  Ana Banic was serving at 7-6 to close out the match but the duo could not get it done, however they went up 8-7 at the next changeover and won the final game on Sprinkel's serve to clinch the match 9-7.  

All six singles court were very competitive and DBU took the first sets on courts 3 and 5 with OCU claiming first sets on 1,2,4, and 5.  After taking the first set decisively, freshman Mikayla Rinker stayed dominate and capped off her match with a victory thus putting DBU at 4-0 and in need of just 1 more match to claim the team victory.  With all courts still battling, junior Bianca Tijerina won the 5th and deciding point by beating her opponent 6-3, 6-3.  This clinched the match with a victory for DBU but the remaining matches stayed competitive.  OCU took courts #1 and #2 against Lacey Sprinkel and Ana Banic.  Liz Slaughter fell in a battle with a 6-2, 7-5 loss.  With the overall score now 5-3, freshman Skylar McDonald was the last court on at #5.  Skylar had dropped the first set in a tiebreaker and couldn't scrape out the second set.  DBU walks away from the match with 5-4 win over a team that will be considered a regional win since Oklahoma is a bordering state.
 
 
RESULTS
DBU 5, UCO 4
 
SINGLES
#1 Hodges (UCO) def. Sprinkel (DBU) 6-2, 7-5
#2 Blunt (UCO) def. Ana Banic (DBU) 6-2, 6-2
#3 Mikayla Rinker (DBU) def. Schoepfly (UCO) 6-2, 6-0
#4 Williams (UCO) def. Liz Slaughter (DBU) 6-2, 7-5
#5 Semo (UCO) def. Skylar McDonald (DBU) 7-6, 6-2
#6 Bianca Tijerina (DBU) def. Bond (UCO) 6-3, 6-3
 
DOUBLES
#1 Ana Banic/Lacey Sprinkel (DBU) def. Hodges/Blunt (UCO) 9-7
 #2 Liz Slaughter/Mikayla Rinker (DBU) def. Seno/Bond (UCO) 8-6
#3 Bianca Tijerina/Skylar McDonald (DBU) def. Schoepflou/Williams (UCO) 8-6
 
 
COACH SARAH GRAY PRAISES THE DOUBLES PLAY
"I am most proud of our doubles play today, which set us up to win against a very good and hungry team.  While no team played up to their potential in doubles, they found a way to dial it in and get their job done.  Having two freshmen in our doubles and singles line-up who are playing well under some pressure and able to get wins early in the season is very beneficial.  Very happy for both Bianca and Mikayla to have gotten it done in both their doubles and singles today.  This next week we play three more teams on the road and are excited for the challenge.  The more experience we gain and the more we learn in those environments, the deeper we will be in the crunch time of the season."
 
 
UP NEXT
The Lady Patriots will be traveling to Atlanta, Georgia to take on Clayton State University on Wednesday, February 22, at 3 PM.