CLEVELAND, Miss. — The Delta State University women's tennis team dropped a tightly contested 4–3 decision to No. 25 Lee on Saturday afternoon at Cleveland Country Club, suffering its first loss of the season despite a strong showing in singles play.

The Statesmen fell behind early after Lee secured the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3. The Flames' tandem of Andr Pascual Blanca and Rima Yoshida defeated Amelia Ciesielczyk and Trinity Ly, 6–0, while Jasmine Ibegbulam and Vitoria Maximiliano earned a 6–3 victory over Lena Kuehn and Angie Moreno to give Lee the early 1–0 advantage.

Delta State responded with resilience in singles competition, claiming three victories to keep the match within reach. Yasmina Mayer delivered a gritty comeback at No. 3 singles, rallying after dropping the first set to defeat Dwyer Aliyah, 3–6, 7–5, 6–1. Anastasiia Iakovlieva added another point for the Statesmen with a dominant straight-set win at No. 4 singles, 6–2, 6–2, over Vitoria Maximiliano. Angie Moreno continued the momentum with a convincing 6–0, 6–4 victory against Jasmine Ibegbulam at No. 6 singles.

Lee secured the deciding points with wins at No. 1, No. 2, and No. 5 singles. Rima Yoshida outlasted Amelia Ciesielczyk in a three-set battle at the top spot, while Andr Pascual Blanca earned a straight-set victory over Trinity Ly at No. 2. Mar Fernanda Duarte clinched the match for the Flames with a 6–3, 7–5 win over Lena Kuehn at No. 5 singles.

With the loss, Delta State moves to 5–1 on the season, while No. 25 Lee improves to 2–0. The Lady Statesmen will look to bounce back as they will hit the road next weekend to face a non-conference foe in Southwest Baptist University next Saturday at Southern Arkansas University.