MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – WKU Women's Tennis lost 4-3 to Sam Houston on Wednesday in the first round of the 2026 Conference USA Women's Tennis Championship at the Adams Tennis Complex in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
The Lady Toppers (11-14) started the match by winning the doubles point with victories from the teams of Virginia Madueño/Emily Schut and Isabelle Einess/Elizabeth Sobieski, and later earned singles wins at the No. 5 and 6 positions from Ariadna Fernandez and Sobieski, respectively, in the loss to the Bearkats (9-12).
HOW IT HAPPENED
Singles (Order of finish: 1,4,6,2,5,3)
- 1. Nayuma Subba (SHSU) def. Isabelle Einess (WKU) 6-1, 6-1
- 2. Ana. Kurtsikashvili (SHSU) def. Emily Schut (WKU) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
- 3. Christine Jevicky (SHSU) def. Virginia Madueño (WKU) 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (9-7)
- 4. Sara Sadadinovic (SHSU) def. Barbara Olvera (WKU) 6-2, 6-3
- 5. Ariadna Fernandez (WKU) def. Ella Fitcher (SHSU) 7-6 (9-7), 6-3
- 6. Elizabeth Sobieski (WKU) def. Isabella Garza (SHSU) 3-6, 6-2, 6-1
Doubles (Order of finish: 1,2,3)
- 1. Virginia Madueño/Emily Schut (WKU) def. Christine Jevicky/Nayuma Subba (SHSU) 6-3
- 2. Ella Fitcher/Aaliyah Hohmann (SHSU) def. Ariadna Fernandez/Barbara Olvera (WKU) 6-2
- 3. Isabelle Einess/Elizabeth Sobieski (WKU) def. Ana. Kurtsikashvili/Sara Sadadinovic (SHSU) 6-3
NOTABLES
- WKU finishes the 2026 season with an 11-14 overall record.
- WKU has won at least 10 matches in each of the last five seasons. It is the second time the program has accomplished the feat, also doing so between the 2009-13 seasons. The Lady Toppers have won 73 matches over the last five seasons, which is the highest win total over a five-year period in program history.
- WKU won nine home matches during the 2026 season. The nine home wins rank fourth in a single season in program history.
- Wednesday marked the ninth time the Lady Toppers won the doubles point this season. WKU finished the season 8-1 when winning the doubles point.
- Virginia Madueño and Emily Schut improved to 4-2 in 2026 when playing together in doubles, with all six of those matches coming at the No. 1 doubles position. The two won the last four matches they played together.
- Isabelle Einess and Elizabeth Sobieski improved to 6-6 together in doubles in the match against Sam Houston. The two finish the year with a 5-4 record together at the No. 3 doubles position.
- Schut and Madueño each finished the year with 11 doubles wins, while Barbara Olvera also finished with double-digit doubles wins with 10. Schut and Madueño's 11 doubles wins rank in the top-25 in a single season in program history.
- Schut now has 25 doubles wins during her WKU career. The 25 doubles wins are tied for 11th-most in program history with Olga Kosaka, who had 25 doubles wins with the Lady Toppers from 2001-04.
- Ariadna Fernandez improved to 11-6 in singles play with her win at the No. 5 position against Sam Houston. She won the last three matches she finished and ends the year with a 4-2 record from the No. 5 position and a 7-4 record at No. 6.
- Elizabeth Sobieski picked up her fifth singles win of the season, all from the No. 6 position.
- Madueño finished the year with a 16-5 record in singles, playing in matches at the No. 2, 3, 4 and 5 positions during her true freshman season. The 16 singles wins are tied for fifth-most in a single season in program history, and only Rachel Hermanova has more singles wins in a season as a true freshman in program history. Hermanova had 19 singles wins during the 2022 season as a freshman.
- Olvera finished her freshman season with an 11-11 record in singles play, with matches played at the No. 3, 4 and 5 positions.
- Einess and Schut each finished the year with 9-12 records in singles play. Einess played all matches at the No. 1 position, while Schut saw the majority of her action at the No. 2 position, but also played matches at the No. 3 and 4 positions.
- Andra Sirbu posted an 8-8 record in singles play this spring, before her first season with the program was cut short due to injury.
- Head Coach Greg Davis finishes the season with 348 career wins as a head coach. He entered the season tied for 23rd nationally in wins among active NCAA Division I Women's Tennis head coaches with at least five years as a Division I head coach, counting all victories as a coach at a four-year institution. Davis entered the season with a career winning percentage of .637, which ranked 36th among that group of coaches.
- Davis finishes his eighth season at WKU with 89 wins, which ranks second in program history.
QUOTABLES
- "What a great college tennis match. It's the only match where we've won the doubles point and lost the match. It came down to the end, and those are always 50-50 matches. Give Sam Houston credit. They pulled it out and won the last put. I'm real proud of how our team fought back. We were down 3-2, got back in it here and put ourselves back in position. At the end of the day, that's all you can ask for – put yourself in a position to be successful." – WKU Women's Tennis Head Coach Greg Davis.
NEXT UP
- WKU heads into the offseason after wrapping up the 2026 season with an 11-14 overall record.
For all the latest on WKU Women's Tennis, follow @WKUTennis on X and Instagram.
