DENTON, Texas — The 2023 WKU Tennis Season came to a close Thursday afternoon in a 4-3 loss to Middle Tennessee. The Lady Toppers fall to 15-11 on the year, while the Blue Raiders improve to 12-9.
The Blue Raiders jumped out front early on claiming the first match on court one 6-3. Middle Tennessee continued from there taking the match on court two 6-2 to take the doubles point. This marked the second straight match the Lady Toppers dropped the doubles point.
Going into singles play, Rachel Hermanova was first to strike for the Lady Toppers, winning in resounding fashion, 6-1 and 6-0, to tie the match at one apiece. The domination in singles continued on court six with Mariana Zegada sweeping her way to victory 6-0 in both sets to give the Lady Toppers a 2-1 lead. Sayda Hernandez won on court three 6-0 and 6-3 in the third set to take 3-1 lead in the match. Middle Tennessee took their second point of the afternoon winning on court one to cut the lead to 3-2. The Blue Raiders then tied the match up at three-all winning on court four. On court five Sunskrithi Damera took the first set 6-4 but fell in the second 7-6 (9-7). In the third set the Blue Raiders came out hot, taking it 6-1 and winning the match 4-3.
"Great match, we fought hard to get back in it," said head coach Greg Davis. "Credit to Middle they took advantage of second opportunities."
In spite of the loss, The Lady Toppers had a record-breaking year setting a third-best 15 wins this season in addition to Samantha Martinez breaking the career doubles wins with 41 career doubles wins. Rachel Hermanova now stands alone in second in all-time career singles wins with 37 after her win today.
Final Results
Singles (Order of finish: 2,6,3,1,4,5)
1. Love-Star Alexis (MTSU) def. Paola Cortez (WKU) 6-3, 6-3
2. Rachel Hermanova (WKU) def. Sana Garakani (MTSU) 6-1, 6-0
3. Sayda Hernandez (WKU) def. Muskan Gupta (MTSU) 6-0, 0-6, 6-3
4. Noelle Mauro (MTSU) def. Sofia Blanco (WKU) 6-4, 6-4
5. Lilly-Sophie Schmidt (MTSU) def. Sunskrithi Damera (WKU) 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-1
6. Mariana Zegada (WKU) def. Camila Barragan (MTSU) 6-0, 6-0
1. Love-Star Alexis/Muskan Gupta (MTSU) def. Paola Cortez/Sayda Hernandez (WKU) 6-3
2. Sana Garakani/Noelle Mauro (MTSU) def. Samantha Martinez/Mariana Zegada (WKU) 6-2
3. Lilly-Sophie Schmidt/Cara Szilasi (MTSU) vs. Sofia Blanco/Rachel Hermanova (WKU) 5-3, unfinished
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.
