BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Women's Tennis will host Jax State and Southern Indiana in a doubleheader on Sunday at the Warren County Tennis Facility at Michael O. Buchanon Park.
The match against the Gamecocks will start at 1:30 p.m. CT and will be the first match against a Conference USA opponent for the Lady Toppers this season, and the match against the Screaming Eagles is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. CT.
MATCH INFO
Jax State (5-3 overall, 0-0 CUSA) at WKU (7-4 overall, 0-0 CUSA)
- Sunday, March 2 | 1:30 p.m. CT
- Warren County Tennis Facility at Michael O. Buchanon Park
- Free Admission
Southern Indiana (0-6 overall, 0-0 OVC) at WKU
- Sunday, March 2 | 6 p.m. CT
- Warren County Tennis Facility at Michael O. Buchanon Park
- Free Admission
ABOUT THE LADY TOPPERS
- WKU enters Sunday's matches with a 7-4 overall record and a 5-3 mark at home this season, after defeating Eastern Illinois 7-0 on Friday.
- Sunday's matches will be the fourth and fifth in a nine-match homestand for the Lady Toppers.
- WKU has won the doubles point in seven of its 11 matches this season.
- Emily Schut and Mia Miranda have led WKU in doubles play this season. The duo have posted an 8-2 record together in their first season with the program, including a 4-1 record from the No. 1 position.
- Sofia Blanco and Rachel Hermanova were ranked No. 85 nationally in the latest ITA Division I Women's Tennis Doubles Rankings. The two improved to 5-5 together with their win over Eastern Illinois on Friday.
- Blanco has 43 career doubles wins, which is the second-most in program history.
- Hermanova has 21 career doubles wins, which ranks 12th in program history.
- Mariana Zegada has 35 career doubles wins, which is fourth-most in program history. She is two doubles wins away from being tied for third in program history.
- Hermanova has won three straight singles matches and is now 8-3 this season from the No. 1 position. Her 57 career singles wins are a program record.
- Blanco has won four straight singles matches and is 8-2 this season from the No. 2 position. She enters Sunday's matches with 48 career singles victories, which is second-most in program history.
- Mia Miranda improved to 5-5 with her win over Eastern Illinois on Friday. She is 5-4 from the No. 3 position.
- Zegada enters Sunday's matches with 28 career singles wins, which is ninth-most in program history and two wins away from being tied for eighth on WKU's career singles wins list. She is 5-4 this season.
- Sunskrithi Damera has won four straight singles matches and sits at 5-3 this season. Her win over Eastern Illinois on Friday was the 25th of her career and moved her into a tie for 10th place on the program's career singles wins list.
- All four returning Lady Toppers from the 2023-24 season are now in the top-10 of the program's career singles wins list. Hermanova is first with 57 singles wins, Blanco is second with 48, Mariana Zegada is ninth with 28 and Damera is tied for 10th with 25.
- Schut has won her last four singles matches and is now 8-1 since joining the program.
- Head Coach Greg Davis is 329-186 all-time as a college head coach, which includes 70 wins with the Lady Toppers. Davis ranks fourth in wins by a WKU Women's Tennis Head Coach. He is now five wins away from being tied for third on WKU's career coaching wins list. Davis entered the season ranked 29th in total wins and 36th in winning percentage among active Division I women's tennis head coaches with at least five years as a Division I head coach.
QUOTABLE
- "Whenever you've got a conference team like Jacksonville State coming in, that's a big match, and it's not just a big match, but it's a big match for seeding purposes when you get to the conference tournament. We know that. We're well aware of it. We're well aware of them being a talented team. We know it's going to take a great effort on Sunday against Jacksonville State and Southern Indiana – a very improved team. We hope to bring out a lot of people in the tennis community and that other people come out for the first time on Sunday." – WKU Women's Tennis Head Coach Greg Davis, on Sunday's matches against Jax State and Southern Indiana.
SERIES INFORMATION
Jax State
- Sunday's match will be the first between WKU and Jax State.
Southern Indiana
- The Lady Toppers hold a 6-1-1 advantage in the all-time series with Southern Indiana. WKU has won the last four meetings and hasn't lost to the Screaming Eagles since the first meeting, which took place during the 2005 season.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Jax State
- Jax State enters Sunday's match with a 5-3 overall record. The match will also be the first CUSA match this season for the Gamecocks.
- Jax State has wins over Presbyterian, Eastern Kentucky, Alabama A&M, Florida A&M and Lipscomb this season. The Gamecocks are coming off a 5-2 win at Lipscomb on Saturday.
- The Gamecocks went 12-8 overall last season, which was their first as a member of CUSA. Jax State made the CUSA Tournament semifinals, where they fell to Liberty.
- Michael Helms is in his second season as Jax State's head coach.
Southern Indiana
- Southern Indiana enters Sunday's match with an 0-6 record.
- The Screaming Eagles are coming off a loss at Austin Peay on Saturday.
- Southern Indiana is coached by Chris Crawford, who took over the women's program in 2022.
For all the latest on WKU Women's Tennis, follow @WKUTennis on Twitter and Instagram.
