SANTA CLARA, Calif.—The Santa Clara women's tennis team dropped its fifth loss of the 2013 dual season to Southern Methodist University on Wednesday afternoon. The Mustangs, who moved to No. 48 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings, trumped the Broncos by a score of 5-2 at the Degheri Tennis Center. Posting a .500 winning percentage for the 2013 regular season, Santa Clara focuses on its second West Coast Conference match this season against BYU, taking place on Sat., March 23 at 10:00 a.m. on the Mission Campus.

Against SMU (9-5; 1-1 Conf. USA), the Broncos (5-5; 1-0 WCC) put up a tough fight in both the doubles and singles matches, coming up just short in both sides.

"This was a tough match against a very good Texas team," said Bronco head coach Ben Cabell. "It definitely was a good lesson for our squad and showed all of us what we need to work on to get better moving forward in the season."

The doubles competition set the tone for the day right from the start. All three Bronco duos battled hard to the last point. Senior partners Kelly Lamble and Maggie McGeorge pulled the lone victory for the Broncos by defeating Hristina Dishkova and Holly Verner of SMU, 9-7. The final two Santa Clara teams were unsuccessful in the end with the matches going to two 9-8 victories for the Mustangs.

In singles, No. 32 Katie Le was upset for the fourth time this dual season by Aleks Malyarchikova of the Mustangs. At the No. 1 spot, Le fell in the first set, 6-2, and could not hold on in the second set. Malyarchikova battled to take the two-set victory by a score of 6-2, 7-6. Le's singles record moves on to 5-4 for the regular season.

The Broncos two points came from dominating two-set wins from freshman Chelby Cooke and Sophomore Stephanie Skaras. Cooke played at the No. 4 position for the Broncos and trumped her opponent, Elena Fayner, 6-2, 6-2. In addition, Skaras improves to a four-match winning streak with her win over Yana Erkeeva of SMU, 6-4, 6-4, at the No. 6 spot.

"Competing with this strong team in both the doubles and singles matches shows how close we are to them. We were tested by the 48^th-ranked team, did some things right, and now we got to work better to move forward," said Cabell at the end of the match. "Our goal looking ahead in our schedule is simple: be the top team in WCC."

Santa Clara hosts WCC opponent BYU on Sat., March 23 at 10:00 a.m.

SMU 5, Santa Clara 2

DOUBLES

1) Vaszilisza Bulgakova/Aleks Malyarchikova (SMU) def. Jessica Agra/Katie Le (SCU) 9-8
2) Kelly Lamble/Maggie McGeorge (SCU) def. Hristina Dishkova/Holly Verner (SMU) 9-7
3) Edyta Cieplucha/Yana Erkeeva (SMU) def. Delphine Rouvillois/Stephanie Skaras (SCU) 9-8

SINGLES

1) Aleks Malyarchikova (SMU) def. #32 Katie Le (SCU) 6-2, 7-6
2) #111 Edyta Cieplucha (SMU) def. Kelly Lamble (SCU) 6-2, 6-4
3) Vaszilisza Bulgakova (SMU) def. Alex Zaniewski (SCU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
4) Chelby Cooke (SCU) def. Elena Fayner (SMU) 6-2, 6-2
5) Hristina Dishkova (SMU) def. Delphine Rouvillois (SCU) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
6) Stephanie Skaras (SCU) def. Yana Erkeeva (SMU) 6-4, 6-2

GO BRONCOS!