BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Women's Tennis senior Sofia Blanco claimed her 100th combined singles and doubles win as the Lady Toppers defeated UT Southern 7-0 on Monday at the Warren County Tennis Facility at Michael O. Buchanon Park.
Blanco is the first player in program history to reach 100 combined singles and doubles wins. She reached the milestone by teaming up with Rachel Hermanova to beat UT Southern's Justine Azarak and Ali Hamilton 6-1 in doubles. It was the 49th career doubles win for Blanco, and she followed with her 52nd career singles win later in the match. Blanco is second on both the program's career singles and career doubles wins list.
The Lady Toppers improved to 12-6 overall and 10-5 at home with the win over the Firehawks (2-7).
HOW IT HAPPENED
Singles (Order of finish: 5,3,6,2,4,1)
- 1. Rachel Hermanova (WKU) def. Otone Odajima (UTS) 6-0, 7-6 (7-1)
- 2. Sofia Blanco (WKU) def. Sienna Ruberto (UTS) 6-1, 6-0
- 3. Mia Miranda (WKU) def. Justine Azarak (UTS) 6-1, 6-0
- 4. Sunskrithi Damera (WKU) def. Yen-Ju Chang (UTS) 6-1, 6-0
- 5. Mariana Zegada (WKU) def. Natalia Vergara (UTS) 6-0, 6-0
- 6. Emily Schut (WKU) def. Ali Hamilton (UTS) 6-0, 6-1
Doubles (Order of finish: 2,3,1)
- 1. Otone Odajima/Yen-Ju Chang (UTS) def. Mia Miranda/Emily Schut (WKU) 6-2
- 2. Sofia Blanco/Rachel Hermanova (WKU) def. Justine Azarak/Ali Hamilton (UTS) 6-1
- 3. Sunskrithi Damera/Mariana Zegada (WKU) def. Natalia Vergara/Sienna Ruberto (UTS) 6-1
NOTABLES
- WKU improved to 12-6 overall and 10-5 at home with the win over UT Southern.
- Monday's match was the final in a 10-match homestand for WKU. The Lady Toppers went 7-3 during the homestand, with wins over Missouri State, Eastern Illinois, Jax State, Southern Indiana, Tennessee State, Dayton and UT Southern. The losses came against Samford, FIU and Murray State.
- WKU's 10 home wins are third-most in a single season in program history. The Lady Toppers won 12 home matches in 2022 and 11 in 2024.
- The Lady Toppers have won three consecutive matches, which ties the team's longest streak this season.
- Senior Sofia Blanco now has 101 combined singles and doubles wins, which is a program record. She became the first player in program history to reach 100 combined singles and doubles wins with her doubles victory over the Firehawks on Monday.
- Senior Rachel Hermanova now has 87 combined singles and doubles wins, which ranks second in program history.
- Senior Mariana Zegada now has 70 combined singles and doubles wins, which is fifth-most in program history and one away from being tied for third.
- WKU has won the doubles point in 13 of its 18 matches this season. The Lady Toppers are 10-3 when winning the doubles point.
- Blanco and Hermanova are 11-6 together in doubles this season and have won their last four matches together.
- Blanco now has 49 career doubles wins, which ranks second in program history behind the 56 doubles wins by Samantha Martinez from 2020-24.
- Hermanova now has 27 career doubles wins, which is tied for eighth-most in program history.
- Zegada and Sunskrithi Damera improved to 5-2 together in doubles this season.
- Zegada now has 38 career doubles wins, which puts her in sole possession of third place on the program's career doubles wins list behind Martinez and Blanco.
- Hermanova is now 11-5 in singles this season with her third straight win, with all matches played at the No. 1 position. She extended her program record to 60 career singles wins with the victory Monday.
- Blanco is 12-4 in singles this season, with an 11-4 record at the No. 2 position. Her 52 career singles wins are second-most in program history.
- Mia Miranda improved to 10-7 in singles this season with her win on Monday.
- Zegada improved to 9-5 in singles this season. Her 32 career singles wins are tied for fifth-most in program history with Paola Cortez and Olga Kosaka.
- Damera improved to 10-5 in singles this season with her third straight win. Her 30 career singles wins are WKU are tied for ninth-most in program history with Andreanna Christopoulou.
- Emily Schut improved to 12-2 in singles this season with her third straight win. She has a 7-1 record at the No. 6 position and a 5-1 record at the No. 5 position.
- The 12 singles wins this season by Blanco and Schut are tied for 14th-most in a single season in program history.
- Head Coach Greg Davis is 334-188 all-time as a college head coach, which includes 75 wins with the Lady Toppers. Davis is now tied for third in program history in wins by a WKU Women's Tennis Head Coach with Laura Hudspeth, who had 75 wins from 1991-2000. 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.
QUOTABLES
- "It was really good to get outside again today and get some outside matches on probably the nicest day we've had all year. Good win today, very decisive. We talked two or three weeks ago about how important momentum is, keeping it and if you lose it, getting it back quickly. We're happy to have a couple of back-to-back wins here with Dayton and then UT Southern today before we go down and play a very tough UTEP team. They're a very talented team. They were a very good team last year and I think this team is even better. We know we're in for a very difficult match there on Wednesday." – WKU Women's Tennis Head Coach Greg Davis, on the win over UT Southern and the upcoming match at UTEP.
- "It means a lot to me playing for this team and playing for these colors. It's very unique, but everything that I have achieved here, it means a lot, especially playing for this team. They push me every day, as well as coach, to be a better player. It's just amazing to be able to get this record for the school." – WKU Women's Tennis senior Sofia Blanco, on reaching 100 career singles and doubles combined wins.
NEXT UP
- The Lady Toppers will hit the road to face UTEP on Wednesday, March 19, at the El Paso Tennis Club in El Paso, Texas. The match is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. CT.
For all the latest on WKU Women's Tennis, follow @WKUTennis on Twitter and Instagram.
.png&width=84&height=84&quality=100&type=webp)
