Box Score
NORFOLK, Va. – No. 7 WKU began with a bang at the 2018 C-USA Women's Tennis Championship, sweeping No. 10 Louisiana Tech 4-0 in the opening round of the tournament. This is just the second time in program history that the Lady Toppers have won in the first round of a conference tournament, the first being in 2017.
Doubles action began at 8 a.m. CT as freshman Moka Ito and sophomore Monica Malinen took to court one. WKU rearranged its most recent doubles lineup, setting up sophomore duo Natalia De Ugarte and Cindy Oest in the No. 2 spot and senior tandem Elpida Malamou and Violetta Shatalova at No. 3.
Malamou and Shatalova were the first to finish their match, falling to a LA Tech pairing 6-2. South America natives De Ugarte and Oest were able to pick up the first win for the Lady Toppers 6-4. Ito and Malinen notched their ninth win of the season together, defeating two Lady Techsters 7-5, securing the doubles point for WKU.
Marking the first singles win for the Red and White was senior Malamou, with a 6-4, 6-2 victory on court three. Next to defeat a Lady Techster was De Ugarte, winning her match in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1. Ito was the next and final Lady Topper to finish, defeating her opponent 6-4, 6-2, helping WKU to sweep LA Tech in the first round of the championship.
Newcomer Ito has notched 12 wins this spring, tying for sixth in the Lady Topper Tennis record books for most singles wins in a season.
Shatalova, Malinen and Oest had not finished their matches by the time WKU clinched the team win.
Tomorrow, No. 7 WKU will face No. 2 Rice at 9 a.m. CT.
Final Results
Singles
Moka Ito (WKU) def. Nadja Manjon (LA Tech) 6-4, 6-2
Violetta Shatalova (WKU) vs. Sonia Chen (LA Tech) 3-6, 5-4, DNF
Elpida Malamou (WKU) def. Karla De La Luz (LA Tech) 6-4, 6-2
Monica Malinen (WKU) vs. Angela Lorenzo (LA Tech) 6-2, 3-2, DNF
Natalia De Ugarte (WKU) def. Claudia Oravcova (LA Tech) 6-2, 6-1
Cindy Oest (WKU) vs. Andre Perez-Lopez (LA Tech) 6-7 (5-7), 3-1, DNF
Doubles
Ito/Malinen (WKU) def. De La Luz/Perez-Lopez (LA Tech) 7-5
Oest/De Ugarte (WKU) def. Lorenzo/Manjon (LA Tech) 6-4
Chen/Oravcova (LA Tech) def. Shatalova/Malamou (WKU) 6-2
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