BELLEVILLE, Ill. – The McKendree University women's tennis team closed out the 2022 regular season here Saturday by suffering a hard-fought 5-2 setback to Maryville University at the SWIC Tennis Courts.
 
With the loss, McKendree concludes the regular season with a 7-11 record and a 1-6 mark in the GLVC, while Maryville improves to 10-6 on the year.
 
The Saints and Bearcats opened Saturday's match by playing doubles and the Saints would secure the doubles point by winning all three of the matches to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
In doubles, Maryville won 6-1 at the No. 1 spot and posted 6-2 wins at both No. 2 and No. 3 doubles.
 
McKendree struggled in doubles play during the regular season as the Bearcats posted a 25-28 record in doubles, including a 3-17 mark in GLVC doubles matches.
 
Following doubles action, the two teams turned their attention singles play. In singles, three of the matches went to a third set on Saturday.
 
The Saints took a 2-0 lead in the match following a win at No. 2 spot as Carolina Velazquez defeated sophomore Camilla Fonseca (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/Colegio Saber), 6-3, 6-1.
 
Junior Viola Cipriani (Arezzo, Italy/Liceo Classico Francesco Petrarca) gave the Bearcats its first point in the match as she picked up a 6-4, 6-1 win at the No. 1 spot over Georgina Cupper. Cipriani improved to 8-9 overall in singles on the season, including a 2-5 mark in GLVC singles matches.
 
Maryville took a 3-1 lead in the match following a three-set win at the No. 3 spot by Emily Orlove over sophomore Rhyan Cook (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington North). Orlove won the first set, 7-5, but Cook tied things up following her 7-6 (8-6) win in the second set to force a third set. In the third set, the two players battled back-and-forth before Orlove ultimately prevailed, 6-4.
 
Maryville would secure the match victory with a win at the No. 4 singles spot by Nicole Pafundi over junior Mariana Caicedo Mora (Cucuta, Colombia/American International School of Mallorca). Pafundi would win 6-2, 7-6 (7-1).
 
The Saints added a fifth win in the match at No. 6 singles as Maria Gouveia defeated sophomore Emily Kettering (Bloomington, Ill./Normal Community West) in straight sets, 6-2, 6-0.
 
McKendree would close out the match with a win at the No. 5 spot by sophomore Maria Vitoria Salomao (Minas Geralds, Brazil/Belo Horizonte) as she needed a third-set tiebreaker to earn a win over Victoria Lisson. Salomao lost the first set, 6-2, before winning the second set, 6-4 and then picking up a 10-7 in a third set tiebreaker.
 
With the conclusion of the regular season, the Bearcats will now turn its attention to the postseason as they play this coming weekend at the GLVC Tournament, which is scheduled for April 29-May 1 at the Dwight Davis Tennis Center at Forest Park in St. Louis, Mo.