LIVINGSTON, Ala. – The No. 9 University of West Alabama women's tennis team concluded the home schedule with Senior Day on Friday from the Vaughan Tennis Complex. The Tigers picked up the 6-1 victory over the Flames.
Before the ball hit the racket, the Tigers honored their senior class of
Khim Iglupas,
Heden Ly and
Hardija Vidnere.
"Our goal as an athletic department is to earn a degree and win a ring, and this senior class has met this goal. We are ready to continue adding another GSC championship to the trophy case," said head coach
Jeff Beaman.
UWA goes to 12-8 and extends its GSC winning streak to 41 straight regular season contests. Lee drops to 9-4 and 4-4.
In doubles, after an easy win by No. 10
Shaira Rivera and
Hardija Vidnere (11-3) at the top flight and Lee's Lizza Gnilozubova / Mirjana Ragastovac taking the No. 3 position, it all came down to the No. 2 spot in
Khim Iglupas and
Heden Ly.
After UWA was up 5-4 in the set, the Lee duo rallied to force the tiebreak. Ahead 5-3 in the break, Lee made it 5-5 after back-to-back rallies. However, Iglupas/Ly rose to the challenge and won the final two points to clinch the doubles point for UWA.
"Doubles is always a make-or-break situation, and we had a couple of match points that we let slip past us, but we kept our composure and got out to a strong start," added Beaman.
The Tigers kept the momentum going into singles. No. 3 Iglupas (15-1) picked up her 11th dub in a row with a 6-3, 6-2 result over No. 53 Ashleigh Simes.
Valentina Mutilba (5-3) rallied from a 5-7 loss in the first set versus LIzza Gnilozubova to win the No. 4 point, 6-4, 10-4.
Emiri Takanishi (10-8) improved to 6-1 in the GSC with a 6-0, 7-6 victory against Maria Durate. The second set went to a tiebreak, and it was a back-and-forth battle, but Takanishi secured the 9-7 break to clinch the No. 5.
Ly (7-9) and Vidnere (7-9) also earned wins in singles for the Tigers.
The final week of the regular season will see the Tigers on the road, starting with a trip to Montevallo on Tuesday afternoon.
