BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Women's Tennis swept Northern Kentucky 7-0 on Friday in the home opener at the Michael O. Buchanan Park Indoor Tennis Facility.
The Lady Toppers improved to 1-1 on the season with the victory.
"I thought we played well," WKU Head Coach Greg Davis said. "It was a big improvement intensity-wise from our first match and I thought we competed well on every court – one through three doubles, which is what we talked about, and one through six singles. Now we've got to kind of try to raise that level a little bit more because Sunday's a very difficult match. Western Carolina came in here last year and beat us 4-3. Very good team, and just like us, they've got most all of their players back from last year when they were a very young and talented team. We're going to have our hands full. We hope a lot of people in the community come out on Sunday and watch the match at 1:30 p.m."
WKU started off the match against the visiting Norse (0-2) by claiming the doubles point with victories from the duo of Sofia Blanco/Samantha Martinez and Sayda Hernandez/Mariana Zegada. Blanco and Martinez defeated NKU's Ashlee Fisk and Catharina Cardoso 6-2, while Hernandez and Zegada defeated Angela Rinaldi and Darya Gneydina 6-2. WKU's Paola Cortez and Anna-Marie Kopecka were leading NKU's Alyssa Cameron and Mariajose Hernandez 4-3 when the doubles point was decided.
"We were really excited to play at home," Blanco said. "It's our place. We know our courts. After the loss against EKU, we were hungry just to come back and do our best and go for it."
Cortez, Rachel Hermanova, Sayda Hernandez, Blanco, Kopecka, and Zegada each claimed singles victories for WKU. Cortez defeated Fisk 6-4, 6-2; Hermanova defeated Gneydina 6-3, 6-4; Sayda Hernandez defeated Cameron 6-1, 6-1; Blanco defeated Rinaldi 6-1, 6-1; Kopecka defeated Cardoso 6-4, 7-5; and Zegada defeated Mariajose Hernandez 6-3, 6-1.
"(The biggest key was) just keep focusing and just keep fighting until the end," Zegada said.
WKU will be back in action at home on Sunday. The Lady Toppers are scheduled to face Western Carolina at 1:30 p.m. CT at the Michael O. Buchanan Park Indoor Tennis Facility.
Final Results
Singles (Order of finish: 4, 6, 3, 1, 2, 5)
Paola Cortez (WKU) def. Ashlee Fisk (NKU) 6-4, 6-2
Rachel Hermanova (WKU) def. Darya Gneydina (NKU) 6-3, 6-4
Sayda Hernandez (WKU) def. Alyssa Cameron (NKU) 6-3, 6-1
Sofia Blanco (WKU) def. Angela Rinaldi (NKU) 6-1, 6-1
Anna-Marie Kopecka (WKU) def. Catharina Cardoso (NKU) 6-4, 7-5
Mariana Zegada (WKU) def. Mariajose Hernandez (NKU) 6-3, 6-1
Doubles (Order of finish: 2, 3)
Paola Cortez/Anna-Marie Kopecka (WKU) vs. Alyssa Cameron/Mariajose Hernandez (NKU) 4-3, unfinished
Sofia Blanco/Samantha Martinez (WKU) def. Ashlee Fisk/Catharina Cardoso (NKU) 6-2
Sayda Hernandez/Mariana Zegada (WKU) def. Angela Rinaldi/Darya Gneydina (NKU) 6-2
For all the latest on WKU Women's Tennis, follow @WKUTennis on Twitter and Instagram.
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