LEBANON, Tenn. – The McKendree University women's tennis team won its third straight match here Monday afternoon as the Bearcats collected a 5-2 victory over Cumberland University in non-conference action at Tommy Gray Memorial Courts on the Cumberland campus.
 
With the win, McKendree improves to 4-2 on the season, while Cumberland falls to 3-5 on the season.
 
The teams began Monday's match by playing doubles and the Bearcats would win two of the three doubles matches to earn the point and take a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
In doubles, the Bearcats No. 1 team of junior Viola Cipriani (Arezzo, Italy/Liceo Classico Francesco Petrarca) and Camilla Fonseca (Rio de Janerio, Brazil/Colegio Saber) picked up a 6-3 win over Maria Arbelaez and Elina Sungatullina, while the No. 2 team of sophomores Rhyan Cook (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington North) and  Maria Vitoria Salomao (Minas Geraids, Brazil/Belo Horizonte) won 7-5 over Jessica Hernandez and Kaede Hatano.
 
The Phoenix would prevent a sweep in doubles by the Bearcats as their No. 3 team of Alexandra Leisibach and Lara Zugusti defeated the Bearcats duo of sophomores Emily Kettering (Bloomington, Ill./Normal Community West) and Bailey Grigg (Marine, Ill./Triad), 6-2.
 
Meanwhile, in the singles action, the Bearcats would pick up four of six wins in singles against the Phoenix.
 
In singles play, Cipriani improved to 5-1 on the season as she won her third straight match at the No. 1 spot as she defeated Arbelaez, 6-2, 6-3.
 
Cook won her third straight singles match as she picked up a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 win at the No. 3 singles spot over Zugusti.
 
The Bearcats' third win in singles came at the No. 4 spot as Salomao picked up a 6-4, 6-1 win over Hatano.
 
Kettering would win her second straight singles matches and third of the season as she earned a hard-fought, 7-6 (7-4) and 6-1 win at No. 5 singles over Carley Earnhardt.
 
Cumberland would pick up wins in singles at the No. 2 and No. 6 spots as Sungatullina defeated Fonseca in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5 at No. 2 and Leisibach won in third set tiebreaker over Grigg (6-1, 4-6, 10-9) at No. 6.
 
The Bearcats will conclude its two-match trip to Tennessee with a scrimmage match on Tuesday, March 15 at 1 p.m. in Clarksville, Tenn., against NCAA Division I foe Austin Peay State University.