BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- For the first time all season, the Western Kentucky University men’s and women’s tennis teams played a string of three consecutive matches on the road, winning two out of three in the state of Alabama. The road trip was intended to consist of five matches in five days, but the final two matches against West Alabama and Alabama A&M were both cancelled.
Both the Hilltoppers and Lady Toppers fell in a rematch to North Alabama on day one of the road trip, but responded to win both of the remaining two matches against Alabama-Huntsville and Alabama State.
After losing for the first time all season on February 27 to North Alabama at home, the Hilltoppers (6-2) were unable to exact revenge, dropping the rematch in Florence, Ala., 5-2. WKU dropped all three doubles contests and received only two wins on the singles side, with Tomi Krug winning at the No. 1 spot 6-3, 6-2, and Lance Freeman winning at the final singles spot 7-5, 6-4.
The Hilltoppers would respond the next two days, however, dropping Alabama-Huntsville 4-3, and Alabama State 6-1. Despite losing two of three doubles against Alabama-Huntsville, WKU would take four singles contests behind wins from Tomi Krug, Priyank Gangadharan, Arul Selvan and Lance Freeman. Freeman would win the final singles match in three sets, 6-1, 5-7, 7-5 to clinch the win for WKU.
For the Lady Toppers (5-4), the results were much of the same, as WKU would drop a second straight contest to North Alabama 4-3, after falling by that same margin a week earlier at home. Despite the close loss, the Lady Toppers would bounce back with authority, defeating Alabama-Huntsville 6-1 the following day and then blanking Alabama State 7-0 on the final day of the road trip.
Against Alabama-Huntsville, the Lady Toppers set the stage from the very beginning, winning all three doubles contests, before taking five out of six singles. Fionna Heuff and Katrina Vucina, playing at the top two spots for WKU, both needed three sets to notch wins. Heuff earned the win in her match over Yngrid Alviz 6-4, 6-7, 6-3, while Vucina bounced back after losing the opening set 4-6, to win the final two sets 6-4, 6-3. Carrie True continued the winning ways from the No. 3 singles spot, defeating Giannina Mulky 6-2, 6-0. Leanne Caplinger and Megan Stephens also notched wins in straight sets, with Caplinger taking down Lilliann Reagan 6-0, 6-3, and Stephens winning over Amanda Sipple 6-3, 6-1.
Both the Hilltoppers and Lady Topppers will enjoy a small break, before returning to the road on Sunday, March 21 in Barbourville, Ky., against Union College. WKU swept the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs in the season opener on February 6.
