RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's tennis team earned its second straight Western Athletic Conference (WAC) victory on Friday, 4-3 over the Grand Canyon (GCU) Lopes, at the Orville Cox Tennis Center. 
 
UTRGV (7-6, 2-1 WAC) captured the doubles point in its second straight WAC contest. Junior Lea Karren and sophomore Barbara Martinez earned a 6-4 win in the No. 1 flight to even out the doubles session after GCU won on the third court. 
 
Junior Isabelle Bahr and sophomore Marjorie Souza improved to 3-0 in conference play with a comeback 7-5 win in the No. 2 match. Bahr/Souza trailed 4-5 after a back-and-forth start to the bout, but with the doubles point hanging in the balance, the pair tightened up to win three consecutive games and clinch an important 1-0 lead. 
 
GCU (8-7, 2-1 WAC) tied the match with a win in the fifth flight by Madeline Lamoreaux. UTRGV regained the lead, 2-1, with a 6-4, 6-1 win at No. 6 by senior Stefanie Wilske, who energized the entire lineup from her end of the court. GCU evened things up again with a win at No. 1 by Natasha Puehse as she held off a respectable comeback attempt by Bahr. 
 
Martinez picked up her second WAC singles win, 6-2, 6-3, as she controlled her No. 4 match. Then, Souza secured UTRGV's second straight conference victory and handed reigning regular season WAC West Division champion GCU its first loss of the conference season with a gritty 6-4, 6-3 win in the No. 3 match. 
 
Karren was locked in a lengthy battle with Santa Strombacha in the No. 2 flight and showed good resilience before falling 6-2, 7-5. 
 
UTRGV hosts New Mexico State at 10 a.m. Sunday at the Orville Cox Tennis Center in a WAC match. 
 
Complete Results
Singles (5, 6, 1, 4, 3, 2) 
1. Natasha Puehse (GCU) def. Isabelle Bahr (UTRGV) 6-0, 6-4 
2. Santa Strombacha (GCU) def. Lea Karren (UTRGV) 6-2, 7-5 
3. Marjorie Souza (UTRGV) def. Anali Kocevar (GCU) 6-4, 6-3 
4. Barbara Martinez (UTRGV) def. Dania Deaifi (GCU) 6-2, 6-3 
5. Madeline Lamoreaux (GCU) def. Kristyna Mamicova (UTRGV) 6-1, 6-3 
6. Stefanie Wilske (UTRGV) def. Valentina Del Marco (GCU) 6-4, 6-1 
 
Doubles (3, 1, 2) 
1. Lea Karren/Barbara Martinez (UTRGV) def. Natasha Puehse/Santa Strombacha (GCU) 6-4 
2. Isabelle Bahr/Marjorie Souza (UTRGV) def. Anali Kocevar/Madeline Lamoreaux (GCU) 7-5 
3. Aline Buhr/Hebe Toyos (GCU) def. Daniela Rosenberger/Stefanie Wilske (UTRGV) 6-4 

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