SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State women's tennis won the final three matches of Friday afternoon's dual but came up just short against visiting Oral Roberts here, falling to the Golden Eagles, 4-3.
 
ORU (1-4) secured the doubles point in heartbreaking fashion. After MSU (3-3) took the No. 3 match thanks to a 6-2 victory by Sandra Lukacova and Tiera Jarmond, the Golden Eagles earned hard-fought victories in flights one and two. ORU's Chara Grammatikaki and Luna Morini (No. 1 doubles) took down Silva Avakian and Mary Houston, 6-4, and Sasha Lebedeva and Reagan Miley (No. 2 doubles) defeated Diana Cabrera and Alyson Piskulic, 7-5. Oral Roberts led the Bears, 1-0, after the doubles point had been determined.
 
In singles action, the Golden Eagles kept their early momentum. In the No. 2 position, ORU's Chara Grammatikaki defeated Juliette Robinson, 6-2, 6-2. Next, ORU's Sasha Lebedeva followed suit with a victory over Diana Cabrera in the No. 1 slot, 6-3, 6-4, resulting in Oral Roberts taking a threatening 3-0 lead with 4 matches to play.
 
Then, ORU's Zere Iskakova clinched the dual for the Golden Eagles with a 7-5, 6-3 victory in flight six over Silva Avakian.
 
With the dual out of reach, Missouri State showed fight the rest of the way, winning the final three matches to bring the final dual deficit to one. Mary Houston earned her first singles dual victory of the season with a win in the No. 3 slot over ORU's Luna Morini, 6-2, 5-7, (10-4), and Sandra Lukacova picked up her fourth, taking down ORU's Reagan Miley in the No. 4 position, 6-4, 3-6, (11-9).
 
The final match of the dual was at No. 5 singles. Alyson Piskulic ended the afternoon on a high note, defeating ORU's Arina Sorokina, 1-6, 6-2, 6-4. Piskulic's win improved her singles record to 5-1 in duals.
 
Missouri State concludes its six-match home stand next Thursday (Feb. 23) against Southwest Baptist at 1 p.m. at Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield. Admission is free.
 
Results: 
Doubles 
1 – Chara Grammatikaki/Luna Morini (ORU) def. Silva Avakian/Mary Houston (MSU), 6-4
2 – Sasha Lebedeva/Reagan Miley (ORU) def. Diana Cabrera/Alyson Piskulic (MSU), 7-5
3 – Tiera Jarmond/Sandra Lukacova (MSU) def. Zere Iskakova/Arina Sorokina (ORU), 6-2
Order of finish – 3,1,2
 
Singles 
1 – Sasha Lebedeva (ORU) def. Diana Cabrera (MSU), 6-3, 6-4
2 – Chara Grammatikaki (ORU) def. Juliette Robinson (MSU), 6-2, 6-2
3 – Mary Houston (MSU) def. Luna Morini (ORU), 6-2, 5-7, (10-4)
4 – Sandra Lukacova (MSU) def. Reagan Miley (ORU), 6-4, 3-6, (11-9)
5 – Alyson Piskulic (MSU) def. Arina Sorokina (ORU), 1-6, 6-2, 6-4
6 – Zere Iskakova (ORU) def. Silva Avakian (MSU), 7-5, 6-3
Order of finish – 2,1,6,3,4,5