BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — WKU Tennis won its first home match in over four years, as the Lady Toppers defeated UT Martin on Monday afternoon by a score of 7-0. The team honored seniors Lisa Friess, Tristen Bryant-Otake and Lauren Joch by sweeping the Skyhawks and improving to 4-11 on the season.
"I think the team played its best match of the season," head coach Greg Davis said. "We were all really happy to get Lisa, Tristen and Lauren a win in their last home match."
The program's most recent home victory had been a 6-1 decision against Evansville on March 24, 2017, although there were only seven other opportunities at the WKU Tennis Complex for the Lady Toppers in-between.
WKU began by winning the doubles point for the 10th time in 15 matches this season. The No. 1 pair of Friess and Cora-Lynn von Dungern secured a 6-1 win, then the No. 3 duo of Bryant-Otake and Joch clinched the opening 1-0 lead with a 6-3 victory.
Friess and von Dungern won their third straight decision to improve to 8-5 together at the top doubles spot, while Bryant-Otake and Joch improved to 6-5 together at the No. 3 position.
After singles losses against UAB on Saturday, the No. 2-through-6 players in the WKU lineup all bounced back with straight-set wins.
Laura Bernardos led off with a 6-3, 6-0 victory at No. 2 to improve her record to a team-best 9-6 on the year. Friess won 6-2, 6-1 at No. 6, then Bryant-Otake earned the fourth – and clinching – point for the team with a 6-3, 6-1 result at the No. 4 spot. Joch continued the momentum with a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 3 and Alexis Cramer added a 6-1, 6-3 victory and No. 5.
At No. 1, von Dungern saw herself in a battle to UT Martin opponent Jule Streif. von Dungern lost the first set by a score of 7-5, but bounced back with a 7-5 advantage of her own in set two to knot the match. Then, she earned a 10-6 win in the third-set tiebreaker to secure the shutout, 7-0 victory for the Lady Toppers.
It was von Dungern's third straight singles win over the past four days. She improved her season mark to 7-8 – all at the No. 1 singles spot – and pushed her record in third-set tiebreakers to a perfect 3-0.
WKU's upcoming match will be a Conference USA showdown with rival Middle Tennessee on Saturday, April 3 in Murfreesboro, Tenn. The Lady Toppers played two neutral-site matches at the location earlier this season, falling to LA Tech by a score of 3-4 and then defeating Southern Miss 5-2. Those results were on March 5 and 6, respectively.
Final Results
Singles (Order of finish: 2,6,4,3,5,1)
1: Cora-Lynn von Dungern (WKU) def. Jule Streif (UTM) 5-7, 7-5, 10-6
2: Laura Bernardos (WKU) def. Aziza Aubin (UTM) 6-3, 6-0
3: Lauren Joch (WKU) def. Sina Albersmeier (UTM) 6-2, 6-2
4: Tristen Bryant-Otake (WKU) def. Mizuki Sakurai (UTM) 6-3, 6-1
5: Alexis Cramer (WKU) def. Ariadna Ondo (UTM) 6-1, 6-3
6: Lisa Friess (WKU) def. Jillian Niedzialowski (UTM) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles (Order of finish 1,3)
1: Friess/von Dungern (WKU) def. Aubin/Streif (UTM) 6-1
2: Bernardos/Martinez (WKU) vs. Niedzialowski/Ondo (UTM) 5-4, unfinished
3: Bryant-Otake/Joch (WKU) def. Albersmeier/Sakurai (UTM) 6-2
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