RICHMOND, Ky. – Visiting West Virginia won four of the six singles matches to defeat the Eastern Kentucky University women’s tennis team Sunday morning in the Greg Adams Indoor Tennis Center, 4-3. The Mountaineers improve to 4-2 with the win while the Colonels fall to 1-5.
EKU opened the match by winning a pair of tie-breakers at the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles matches to earn the doubles point. West Virginia rallied to win three of the first four singles matches to take a 3-2 lead with two matches left. Needing both matches to earn the win, the Colonels were only able to pull off the No. 6 match.
“One of the bright spots today was that our two freshmen –
Jessica Albuquerque and
Esmira Gheisary – earned their first collegiate victories,” EKU head coach Rob Oertel said. “Once again, we fought hard today and it showed by winning two tight matches in doubles. However, West Virginia played just a little better than us in singles.”
Eastern Kentucky returns to action next weekend with a pair of home matches against Cumberland University (Feb. 12) and Evansville (Feb. 13).
West Virginia 4, Eastern Kentucky 3
Singles
1. Monique Burton (WVA) def. Myriem Mhirit (EKU) 6-1, 6-4
2. Veronica Cardenas (WVA) def. Anouk Faure (EKU) 6-4, 5-7, 6-2
3. Jessica Albuquerque (EKU) def. Emily Mathis (WVA) 7-5, 6-0
4. Kathryn Haught (WVA) def. Alyze Pagal (EKU) 6-4, 6-1
5. Ashley Pilsbury (WVA) def. Anais Hamel (EKU) 7-6, 7-5
6. Esmira Gheisary (EKU) def. Liv Pettersson (WVA) 7-5, 2-6, 6-3
Doubles
1. Albuquerque/Mhirit (EKU) def. Burton/LaFortune (WVA) 9-8 (3)
2. Faure/Hamel (EKU) def. Cardenas/Mathis (WVA) 9-8 (4)
3. Pettersson/Pilsbury (WVA) def. Gheisary/Pagal (EKU) 8-3
Match Notes: Eastern Kentucky (1-5); West Virginia (4-2)
Order of Finish: Doubles (3, 1, 2); Singles (4, 3, 1, 2, 5*, 6)