SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- After going 7-2 through the non-conference portion of its 2021 schedule, UT Tyler fell on the road to St. Mary's in the Patriots' Lone Star Conference women's tennis opener on Saturday.
 
Akshaya Suresh and Chloe Dix teamed up for a 6-4 win at the No. 2 doubles position, placing the doubles point on the outcome of the No. 3 doubles match, where Gaini Ibrasheva and Anna Claire Gerletti suffered a narrow 7-5 setback.
 
With the doubles point in hand, St. Mary's clinched the match with a pair of straight-set wins at the No. 1, No. 2, and No. 5 singles positions.
 
Suresh (No. 4) and Eva Riekenbrauck (No. 6) each split their first two sets of singles play, and both were defeated in the 10-point third-set super tiebreakers. St. Mary's completed the singles sweep with those three-set wins to claim the 7-0 victory.
 
With the loss, UT Tyler dropped to 7-3 overall and 0-1 in Lone Star Conference play, while St. Mary's improved to 8-1 overall, 2-0 LSC. The Patriots are back in action for back-to-back home matches against the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith (UAFS) and Cameron April 2-3.