Buie, Lopareva finish at Oracle Cup

Mississippi Gulf Coast's Bianca Buie and Margarita Lopareva completed play at the ITA Oracle Cup on Saturday, finishing in eighth place in the doubles competition.

"Every match, they got better," Gulf Coast coach Gary Bourgeois said. "They competed good yesterday and had a lot of chances today to win the first set and couldn't keep it together."

Buie, sophomore from Baia Mare, Romania, and Lopareva, a freshman from Moscow, Russia, battled a duo from De Anza College. They lost 3-6, 6-4, 11-9.

The team played three matches overall in the event that used to be called the Small College Nationals.

"It's a great learning experience," Bourgeois said. "The level of play was really strong. It's the top eight teams in the nation. It will prepare us for the spring season and nationals. That's one of the benefits you get being here; you get to see the competition and see what you need to work on at a high level."

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