O'FALLON, Ill. – McKendree University women's tennis team suffered a 7-0 setback here Friday afternoon in Great Lakes Valley Conference action to 10th-ranked University of Indianapolis at the St. Clair Tennis Center.
With the setback, the Bearcats dropped its overall record to 6-7 on the season and 0-2 in the GLVC, while UIndy improved to 11-2 overall and 2-0 in the league.
The teams began Friday's match by playing doubles and in doubles, the Greyhounds took all three matches to earn the doubles point and take a 1-0 lead in the match.
In doubles play, McKendree's No. 1 team of junior
Viola Cipriani (Arezzo, Italy/Liceo Classico Francesco Petrarca) and sophomore
Camilla Fonseca (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/Colegio Saber) had their two-match win streak snapped with a 6-3 loss to UIndy's No. 1 team of Anna Novikova and Maria Solnyshkina. Cipriani and Fonseca are now 7-5 on the season in doubles.
At No. 2 doubles, sophomore
Rhyan Cook (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington North) and junior
Mariana Caicedo Mora (Cucuta, Colombia/American International School of Mallorca) fell 6-2 to UIndy's No. 2 team of Maissane Aik and Arina Amaning. Cook and Mora fell to 5-4 on the season in doubles.
UIndy also picked up a 6-1 win at the No. 3 spot as they defeated McKendree's duo of sophomores
Maria Vitoria Salomao (Minas Geraids, Brazil/Belo Horizonte) and
Emily Kettering (Bloomington, Ill./Normal Community West).
With UIndy holding a 1-0 lead in the match, the teams turned their focus to singles play and the Bearcats struggled against the 'Hounds as they won a combined 13 games in the six matches.
In singles play, Cipriani fell 6-1, 6-2 to UIndy's Novikova, who is ranked No. 19 in Division II women's singles, at the No. 1 spot.
At the No. 2 spot, Fonseca managed to win two games as she fell 6-1, 6-1 to Isabella Dunlap, who is ranked 10th in Division II women's singles.
McKendree's other singles match in which it won more than one game came at the No. 5 spot as Caicedo Mora fell 6-4, 6-1 to Solnyshkina. Caicedo Mora had her two match winning streak snapped with the setback.
Cook won two games, both in the first game, as she fell 6-2, 6-0 at the No. 4 spot to Amaning.
Salomao would fall 6-1, 6-0 at the No. 3 spot to Kristina Lagoda. The loss dropped Salomao to a 7-6 record on the season.
The only singles match the Bearcats didn't win any games came at the No. 6 spot as Kettering fell by identical 6-0, 6-0 scores to Sofia Sharonova.
McKendree will return to action on Saturday, April 9 as they host Lewis University for a 12:30 pm. GLVC match at Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC) in Belleville, Ill.
