Women’s tennis aces Principia, faults to D-I SLU
Scott BresslerWashington University women’s tennis team extended its winning streak to four games on Monday with a 9-0 routing of Principia College. The win was followed by a Tuesday loss to Division I St. Louis University. The Lady Bears are now 14-4 on the season and are ranked 14th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Div. III poll.
Principia fought to stay in doubles play, but lost all three matches by at least three games. Junior Erin Swaller and freshman Kalee Cassady won first doubles 8-5, sophomore Allison Dender and freshman Kristin Fleming took second doubles 8-4 and the freshman team of Jaclyn Bild and Karina Kocemba won at third doubles 8-1.
The Red and Green swept the singles matches even more convincingly, as Dender, freshman Elise Sambol and freshman Keadrea Wilson won 6-0, 6-0 in first, third, and sixth singles, respectively.
Fleming won at second singles 6-1, 6-2, junior co-captain Anna Tchergueiko won at fourth singles 6-3, 6-1 and sophomore Elise Dorsett won at fifth singles 6-0, 6-1.
The Billikens flexed their muscles against the Bears, winning every match except fifth singles. Cassady recorded the lone win for the University 7-6 (8-6), 6-4. Swaller played a close match at first singles, losing each set by one service break 4-6, 4-6.
The Lady Bears also fell points short in third doubles, with Bild and Kocemba losing 8-9 (5-7) after having a lead.
“Even though we lost and were upset ’cause we were up, it gave us confidence that we could almost win against a top Division I team,” Bild said.
“We can only play so many easy matches. We need to be tested. SLU is a very tough [Division I] team, but we showed that we can hang with them,” Swaller, a co-captain, said. “The more people we play, the more looks we’re going to see and the more we’ll improve.”
The team will only have two days off before play begins Friday at the UAA Championships held at the Tao Tennis Center. The tournament will feature three ITA-ranked teams other than Washington University. Emory University, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Chicago are ranked fourth, ninth, and 30th respectively in the ITA Div. III poll.
“U. of Chicago has been one of our biggest rivals, but we just really want to play Emory because they’re at the top of the rankings. That would be a great win,” Bild said.
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