BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — WKU Tennis continued their historical start to the 2022 campaign with a 5-2 win against NKU on Friday to improve to 5-0 on the season, marking the best start in program Division 1 history.
"Very happy to have the record. To be the first team since WKU has been Division 1 in the early 80s to start 5-0," head coach Greg Davis said. "Samford is going to be very difficult. They are a really good team. They will be the toughest team we've faced all year, so we have a big challenge ahead of us tomorrow."
WKU Tennis will play two more matches this weekend, taking the courts tomorrow against Samford at 1 p.m. Then, On Sunday, Feb. 13, the team will hit the road for a match up against Kentucky in Lexington, Ky. Tomorrow's home match will be played at the Michael O. Buchanan tennis facility.
The Lady Toppers won the doubles point for the fifth consecutive match. Laura Bernardos and Samantha Martinez finished first on Court 2, winning in, 6-0, to give WKU the early edge. Cora-Lynn von Dungern and Paola Cortez then clinched the doubles point with a 6-1 victory on Court 1. Sofia Blanco and Mariana Zegada were leading 5-3 on Court 3 and did not finish.
With the early 1-0 lead, the Lady Toppers looked to extend it going into singles play. Laura Bernardos was able to do so, finishing first of the six matches, winning 6-0, 6-2 at the No. 2 spot. Rachel Hermanova soon followed that up with a win of her own, 6-0, 6-3, on Court 5. Alexis Cramer was able to clinch the match for WKU winning, 6-2, 6-4 at No. 6. With the match already decided, the rest of the singles matches were played out. NKU clinched their first point of the match, winning in three sets at the No. 1 spot. Paola Cortez gave WKU their fifth point, in a hard fought match, winning, 7-5, 5-7, 10-7. The third set was a super tiebreaker due to the match already being decided. NKU then claimed their second point at the No. 4 slot in another three set match.
"It was a great team win. That is one of those teams that has beaten us three times in a row and I thought this was our best doubles performance of the year," head coach Greg Davis said. "We came out in doubles and we were up 4-0 on three courts. I think that made a big difference We were very decisive in our doubles play."
Final Results
Singles (Order of finish: 2,5,6,1,3,4)
1: Maria Koo (NKU) def. Cora-Lynn von Dungern (WKU) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
2: Laura Bernardos (WKU) def. Elizabeth Rozin (NKU) 6-0, 6-2
3: Paola Cortez (WKU) def. Laura Grau (NKU) 5-7, 7-5, 10-7 (super tiebreaker)
4: Sylvia Gray (NKU) def. Taylor Shaw (WKU) 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3)
5: Rachel Hermanova (WKU) def. Ananya Kothakota (NKU) 6-0, 6-3
6: Alexis Cramer (WKU) def. Dani Rosenberger (NKU) 6-2, 6-4
Doubles (Order of finish 2,1,DNF)
1: von Dungern/Cortez (WKU) def. Koo/Grau (NKU) 6-1
2: Bernardos/Martinez (WKU) vs. Tandelova/Rosenberger (NKU) 6-0
3: Blanco/Zegada (WKU) vs. Rozin/Gray (NKU) 5-3, unfinished
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