Lions easy victory sets tone for 2014 tennis season

Natalia Barragan waits for the serve from her opponent at the match against West Georgia.

The Lions women’s tennis team dominated the University of West Georgia Saturday afternoon at the UNA tennis complex.

The Lions won every match for a 9-0 victory over the Wolves.

“Anytime you can start 1-0, it’s a good day,” said Head Coach Brice Bishop.

Madison Patey and Morgan Jose made quick work of their opponents, not dropping a single game on the way to an 8-0 doubles win.

UNA also won their other two doubles matches with an 8-1 victory and an 8-4 win.

“We got off to a quick start on the doubles court and it carried over to the singles courts,” Bishop said.

Olivera Ngoubeu won her first singles match for the Lions Saturday.

After dropping the first game Ngoubeu went on to defeat her opponent 6-2, 6-1.

“I was really nervous,” Ngoubeu said. “I really wanted to win and now that it’s over I can relax.”

Every other Lions player won their singles match as well.

Patey and fellow senior Bruna Vieira won their matches 6-0, 6-0 and 6-0, 6-1 to set the pace for the rest of the team.

“A lot of good things happened today, but we still got to get better,” Bishop said.

The Lions will now turn their attention to a Division I opponent when they play Belmont University.

“I’d like to see a higher first serve percentage in our next match,” Bishop said. “They’re D-1, so we’re just gonna have to go out there and compete.”

The Lions will travel to play Belmont University on Friday, Feb. 7.