MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — WKU Tennis continues its fall season this weekend, as the Lady Toppers travel down I-65 for the Middle Tennessee Invitational. The three-day event will take place on Friday, September 30, Saturday, October 1, and Sunday October 2.
WKU will compete against players from the host Blue Raiders, Ball State, Bellarmine, Chattanooga, Lipscomb, and North Alabama.Â
"MTSU is always a tough tournament," head coach Greg Davis said. "They always have very good competition coming in. Not only Middle Tennessee, but other teams. It is going to give us our first look at some conference teams coming up, and we are looking forward to that."
The Lady Toppers matched up against all the teams featured in the Middle Tennessee Invitational last season, winning against five of the six opponents. The Lady Toppers got the better of the Blue Raiders on the back end of last season, winning 4-3 in Bowling Green. Ball State is the only team on the schedule that beat the Lady Toppers last spring, beating WKU 5-2 in Bowling Green. Bellarmine was the first match of the 2022 spring season for the Lady Toppers, who beat the Knights 5-2 last January. WKU hosted Lipscomb for its first home match of the 2022 season, winning 4-3. Chattanooga also visited The Hill last February, losing to the Lady Toppers, 4-3. The weekend prior, WKU hosted North Alabama, winning 5-2 for the second straight year.Â
In WKU's first action of the fall at the Austin Peay Invitational, the Lady Toppers saw two of its returners go undefeated in singles during the weekend. Sofia Blanco and Mariana Zegada each finished the weekend 3-0 in singles. Paola Cortez finished 2-1 at the No. 1 spot throughout the weekend, winning in singles on Saturday and Sunday. In doubles, the Lady Toppers claimed three doubles wins throughout the weekend. Blanco and Martinez won on Friday against Austin Peay, 6-2. On Saturday, WKU took two more doubles wins, with Cortez and Hernandez not dropping a set, winning 6-0 against Chattanooga. Blanco and Hermanova also won against Chattanooga, 6-3.Â
"I like the intensity we played with over the weekend," said Davis. "I thought Paola and Sayda did very well in doubles throughout the tournament. Had a really good shot at winning against Austin Peay. In singles, we had a couple of really good performances out of Mariana and Sofia. We definitely had an above average start to the fall."
WKU Tennis has added another fall showing towards the end of October. The Bellarmine Invitational will be played on October 22-23 in Louisville. This will be the last outing for the WKU Tennis squad this year before they start its spring season next January.Â
How to follow WKU Tennis: For complete information on WKU Lady Topper Tennis, visit WKUSports.com or follow the program via social media @WKUTennis on Twitter and @WKUTennis Instagram.
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