April 14, 2001
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Western Kentucky's men's and women's tennis teams both closed out the regular season Saturday with 4-3 victories over David Lipscomb at the WKU Tennis Courts.
The Lady Toppers took four of six singles matches to win their 11th straight match and improve to 13-4 on the season, one year after winning just two matches and finishing 2-17. The Lady Bulldogs were the last team to beat Western after a 8-1 victory March 8 in Nashville.
Junior Nino Kostava (Ibilisi, Rep. of Georgia) was an easy 6-1, 6-1 winner over David Lipscomb's Julie McDonald at No. 3 singles. Kostava leads the team with a 14-3 mark this season. Kostava, who was 4-1 in 2000 before suffering a herniated disk that sidelined her for the remainer of the season, is 31-12 in her three years at WKU.
Sophomore Liene Rozentale (Riga, Latvia) was a 6-3, 6-4 winner at No. 2 singles and sophomore Amanda Cummins (Bowling Green, Ky.) was a 7-5, 6-4 winner over Lindsey Burns at No. 6 singles. At No. 5 singles, freshman Olga Kosaka (Liepaja, Latvia) won her eighth straight match in comeback fashion defeating the Lady Bulldogs' Vivian Demetriou 2-6, 6-2, 6-1.
The men's team also relied on its singles play to pull out the victory and improve to 8-7 on the year. . Getting straight-set wins were sophomore Evalds Jurans (Riga, Latvia) at No. 2 singles 6-4, 6-1 over David Lipscomb's Reuben Mason, sophomore Wimal Wijenayake (Henderson, Ky.) 6-2, 6-1 over Dustin Overbeek at No. 5 and freshman Martins Jaunzems (Riga, Latvia) 6-3, 6-2 over Tony Franco at No. 4 .
Clinching the Hilltopper win was junior J.J. Ball (Louisville, Ky.), who rallied to win the third set in a 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 victory over David Lipscomb's Brian Jerkins at No. 6 singles.
Senior Michael Lindsog (Stjarnhov, Sweden) fell at No. 1 singles 7-5, 6-4 to Danny Norman in his final home match. It was the first loss in Lindskog's four-year career at the WKU Tennis Courts, snapping a streak of 18 straight wins. Lindskog is 11-4 this season and holds a 65-19 mark for his career.
Both teams will next be in action at the Sun Belt Conference Championships April 20-22 in Mobile, Ala.
