BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Women's Tennis split its matches with Murray State and Tennessee State on Sunday at the Warren County Tennis Facility at Michael O. Buchanon Park. The Lady Toppers lost 4-3 to the Racers in the first match and beat the Tigers 7-0 in the second match.
WKU is now 10-6 overall and 8-5 in home matches this season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Murray State 4, WKU 3
Singles (Order of finish: 3,1,2,5,6,4)
- 1. Valeria Chaikovskaia (MUR) def. Rachel Hermanova (WKU) 6-3, 6-2
- 2. Varya Alexeyeva (MUR) def. Sofia Blanco (WKU) 6-4, 6-3
- 3. Mia Miranda (WKU) def. Yuna Kadowaki (MUR) 6-4, 6-1
- 4. Yu Kikawa (MUR) def. Sunskrithi Damera (WKU) 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (10-8)
- 5. Mariana Zegada (WKU) def. Bruna Melato (MUR) 7-6 (7-2), 6-2
- 6. Paola Campigotto (MUR) def. Emily Schut (WKU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
Doubles (Order of finish: 3,1,2)
- 1. Mia Miranda/Emily Schut (WKU) def. Yuna Kadowaki/Yu Kikawa (MUR) 6-3
- 2. Sofia Blanco/Rachel Hermanova (WKU) def. Valeria Chaikovskaia/Bruna Melato (MUR) 7-5
- 3. Varya Alexeyeva/Paola Campigotto (MUR) def. Elizabeth Sobieski/Mariana Zegada (WKU) 6-2
WKU 7, Tennessee State 0
Singles (Order of finish: 4,1,5,6,3,2)
- 1. Rachel Hermanova (WKU) def. Louise Ratiu (TSU) 6-1, 6-1
- 2. Mia Miranda (WKU) def. A. Arrieta Castillo (TSU) 6-1, 7-5
- 3. Sunskrithi Damera (WKU) def. Jovana Nikolic (TSU) 6-1, 6-4
- 4. Mariana Zegada (WKU) def. Natalie Walsh (TSU) 6-1, 6-0
- 5. Emily Schut (WKU) def. Claudia Murdasanu (TSU) 6-2, 6-1
- 6. Elizabeth Sobieski (WKU) def. Victoria Cooksey (TSU) 6-4, 6-2
Doubles (Order of finish: 1,2)
- 1. Mia Miranda/Emily Schut (WKU) def. Claudia Murdasanu/Natalie Walsh (TSU) 6-1
- 2. Sofia Blanco/Rachel Hermanova (WKU) def. Louise Ratiu/Jovana Nikolic (TSU) 6-2
- 3. Sunskrithi Damera/Mariana Zegada (WKU) vs. A. Arrieta Castillo/Victoria Cooksey (TSU) 5-1, unfinished
NOTABLES
- WKU is now 10-6 overall and 8-5 at home this season. The Lady Toppers are 1-1 against Conference USA opponents.
- Sunday's matches were the seventh and eighth in a nine-match homestand. WKU has gone 5-3 during the homestand, with wins over Missouri State, Eastern Illinois, Jax State, Southern Indiana and Tennessee State. The losses during the stretch have been against Samford, FIU and Murray State.
- WKU's eight home wins are third-most in a single season in program history. The Lady Toppers won 12 home matches in 2022, 11 in 2024 and seven in 2023.
- WKU has won the doubles point in 11 of its 16 matches this season.
- Emily Schut and Mia Miranda improved to 10-3 in doubles together this season with their wins against Murray State and Tennessee State. They are 6-2 at No. 1 doubles.
- Sofia Blanco and Rachel Hermanova improved to 9-6 together in doubles this season with their wins against Murray State and Tennessee State.
- Blanco's doubles wins were the 46th and 47th of her career. She is second on the program's career doubles wins list.
- Hermanova's doubles wins were the 24th and 25th of her career. She is now tied for 10th in program history in career doubles wins.
- Hermanova's singles win against Tennessee State was the 58th singles win of her career, which extends her program record. She is 9-5 this season, with all of her matches coming at the No. 1 position.
- Miranda improved to 9-6 overall this season in singles with her wins over Murray State and Tennessee State on Sunday. She is now 7-5 at No. 3 and 2-1 at No. 2 singles.
- Sunskrithi Damera's singles win over Tennessee State was the 28th of her career. The 28 career singles wins are 10th-most in program history. She is now 8-5 this season in singles.
- Mariana Zegada improved to 8-4 in singles this season with her wins over Murray State and Tennessee State. She now has 31 career singles wins, which is tied for seventh-most in program history.
- Schut is now 10-2 in singles play this season. She is 5-1 at both the No. 5 and No. 6 positions.
- Elizabeth Sobieski improved to 3-3 in singles as a Lady Topper with her win over Tennessee State.
- Head Coach Greg Davis is 332-188 all-time as a college head coach, which includes 73 wins with the Lady Toppers. Davis ranks fourth in wins by a WKU Women's Tennis Head Coach. He is now two 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.
QUOTABLES
- "We knew this was going to be a very, very close match, and it sure didn't disappoint. It went down to the last match. We had some great performances in doubles today, and Mia and Mariana had exceptional days in singles as well. We had some great performances out there. Give Murray State credit. They had to come in on the road and finish us off on our own court. We usually win most of the time here. It was just one of those days where they won all the big points when they needed them and were able to finish the match in a very tough environment." – WKU Women's Tennis Head Coach Greg Davis, on the loss to Murray State.
- "It was a good win coming back after a tough loss in the first one with Murray. We talked about not having any letdown here in the second match. It was good that we came out and played very decisive in doubles and I liked our effort in singles, winning everything in straight sets. Tough match next Saturday with Dayton. I believe we won it last year 7-5 or 7-6 in the third set of the deciding match – very tough match on the road. They're coming in with a very good team and they're deep, so we know we're going to have our hands full next Saturday with Dayton here at Buchanon." – WKU Women's Tennis Head Coach Greg Davis, on the win over Tennessee State and the upcoming schedule.
- "It was pretty good, especially after a tough match like Murray State. I think we were pretty close. I think it's just the small adjustments we can make during the week, and next time I'm sure we'll get it." – WKU Women's Tennis senior Mariana Zegada, on the win over Tennessee State and loss to Murray State.
- "I think that the score doesn't really reflect how tough of a match it was. We're all tired, but mentally we had to be there strong and focus every point because it's not an easy team, but we had to show up." – WKU Women's Tennis sophomore Mia Miranda, on bouncing back from a loss to beat Tennessee State.
NEXT UP
- The Lady Toppers will close a nine-match homestand with a 1 p.m. CT match against Dayton on Saturday, March 15.
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