CINCINNATI, Ohio — After fighting back to tie the match late, WKU Tennis lost in a heartbreaker to Cincinnati by a score of 4-3 in the team's regular-season finale on Sunday afternoon. The Lady Toppers now own a 7-13 overall record heading into next week's Conference USA Tournament.
"I'm really proud of the team," head coach Greg Davis said. "We won the doubles point then we fought back in singles to tie it up at 3-3. Cincinnati is a very deep and solid team."
For the 14th time in 20 matches, WKU began by winning the doubles point. Just as they did on Saturday at Dayton, the No. 1 pair of Lisa Friess and Cora-Lynn von Dungern teamed up with the No. 2 duo of Laura Bernardos and Samantha Martinez to earn 6-2 and 6-3 victories, respectively.
It was the 12th win of the season for each doubles tandem, as the Lady Toppers improved to 33-19 (.635) as a team in doubles matches.
Moving on to singles competition, the Bearcats took the first two decisions at the No. 4 and No. 3 spots in straight sets to take a 2-1 lead. Friess then recorded a 7-6 (4), 6-2 win at No. 6 to knot the overall score at 2-2. It was the Graz, Austria, native's fourth straight victory as she improved to 8-10 on the campaign.
After Cincinnati took a three-set result at No. 1, Tristen Bryant-Otake responded with a three-set win of her own at the No. 5 position by a score of 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2). It was also the Kailua, Hawai'i, native's fourth consecutive victory as she pushed her season record to 9-10.
Then it all came down to the No. 2 spot, but the Bearcats clawed out a 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (4) result for a 4-3 final team score on the day at the Trabert-Talbert Tennis Center. It was also Cincinnati's final regular-season match, as the hosts finished with a 6-9 overall mark.
Despite the loss, WKU won five of their last eight matches going into the postseason. The Lady Toppers now move on to the C-USA Tournament, which begins on Thursday, April 22 in Denton, Texas, and is hosted by North Texas at the Waranch Tennis Complex.
Final Results
Singles (Order of finish: 4,3,6,1,5,2)
1: Ioana Guna (CINCY) def. Cora-Lynn von Dungern (WKU) 6-2, 5-7, 6-2
2: Cassie McLay (CINCY) def. Laura Bernardos (WKU) 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (4)
3: Maria Santilli (CINCY) def. Samantha Martinez (WKU) 6-3, 6-0
4: Emma Miceli (CINCY) def. Lauren Joch (WKU) 6-0, 6-2
5: Tristen Bryant-Otake (WKU) def. Kelli Niehaus (CINCY) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2)
6: Lisa Friess (WKU) def. Alexia Coutino (CINCY) 7-6 (4), 6-2
Doubles (Order of finish 3,1,2)
1: Friess/von Dungern (WKU) def. Coutino/McLay (CINCY) 6-2
2: Bernardos/Martinez (WKU) def. Gintrand/Guna (CINCY) 6-3
3: Miceli/Niehaus (CINCY) def. Bryant-Otake/Joch (WKU) 6-2
Western Kentucky University Athletics
- Champions Climb Here
- WKU Athletics
- Athletic Director
- Academic Services
- Annual Report
- Athletic Communications
- Athletic Hall of Fame
- Athletic Training
- Big Red
- CLIMB Program - NIL
- Compliance
- Facilities
- Financial Reports
- For Students
- Student Employment
- Forms/Requests
- Book Big Red
- Donation Requests
- Site Feedback
- For Fans
- Hilltopper Highlights
- Gameday Promotions
- Alumni Tailgates
- Big Red's Rascals
- Basketball Gameday
- Football Gameday
- Mobile Tickets
- Travel Center
- Tickets
- Give
