MVC Tournament Central

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- Missouri State sent three singles players and one doubles team to the semifinals with first-round victories Saturday at the MVC Individual Tennis Championship at Wesselman Tennis Center. 

Additionally, three Bears advanced to the consolation finals after dropping their first-round matches, giving the team a 6-4 singles record with six of the team's seven players still alive entering Sunday's competition, which begins with doubles play at 9 a.m.

"This was a very solid start to this tournament," said head coach Mallory Weber after the conclusion of day one play. "I'm really proud of how we competed and how we bounced back in our consolation matches."

In singles action, Phoebe Boeschen and Alexia Meyer each extended their personal winning streaks to three matches, with Boeschen topping Evansville's No. 4 singles player by a 6-3 score in each set, and Meyer beating Drake's Abigail Sogard, 6-4, 6-3, at No. 6 singles. Anelisse Torrico Moreno also advanced to the semis with a 6-2, 6-3 win over UNI's Elvira Lopez at No. 2 singles.

Boeschen also earned a victory at No. 1 doubles, teaming with freshman Alye Darter for a 7-5 win over Bradley's Natalia Barber and Ashley Thai.

Darter, Ekaterina Donetskova and Abbey Belote each rebounded from first-round singles losses to advance to Sunday's fifth-place matches. Donetskova and Belote each dropped just one set in dominating wins at Nos. 5 and 7 singles, respectively, while Darter split a pair of tie-breakers with Illinois State's Jelena Vujicic before taking the third set tie-break, 10-5.

Results
First Round:
No. 1 doubles - Alye Darter/Phoebe Boeschen (MSU) def. Natalia Barbery/Ashley Thai (BU), 7-5
No. 2 doubles - Jana Kustkova/Jelena Vujicic (ILS) def. Fati Khamissi/Ekaterina Donetskova (MSU), 8-7 (3)
No. 3 doubles - Daria Pentsova/Andjela Brguljan (UE) def. Abbey Belote/Alexia Meyer (MSU), 8-5

No. 1 singles - Tanaporn Thongsing (WSU) def. Fati Khamissi (MSU), 6-0, 1-0 (retired)
No. 2 singles - Anelisse Torrico Moreno (MSU) def. Elvira Lopez (UNI), 6-2, 6-3
No. 3 singles - Joely Lomas (DU) def. Alye Darter (MSU), 6-4, 7-5
No. 4 singles - Phoebe Boeschen (MSU) def. Andrea Pascual-Larrinaga (UE), 6-3, 6-3
No. 5 singles - Malini Wijesinghe (BU) def. Ekaterina Donetskova (MSU), 6-1, 7-6 (3)
No. 6 singles - Alexia Meyer (MSU) def. Abigail Sogard (DU), 6-4, 6-3
No. 7 singles - Julie Martin (BU) def. Abbey Belote (MSU), 6-0, 6-0

Backdraw:
No. 3 singles - Alye Darter (MSU) def. Jelena Vujicic (ILS), 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 10-5
No. 5 singles - Ekaterina Donetskova (MSU) def. Melania Jaglarz (DU), 6-0, 6-1
No. 7 singles - Abbey Belote (MSU) def. Leah Helpingstine (UE), 6-1, 6-0