SPRINGFIELD – Diana Cabrera won her No. 1 singles semifinal match, 7-5, 6-4, against UIC's Agnes Gustafsson, landing Missouri State women's tennis a finalist at the Missouri Valley Conference Individual Tennis Championships here Saturday during the second of three days of competition at Cooper Tennis Complex.
 
"At the beginning, I was a little bit nervous, but then I decided to stay committed to going for the shots I wanted to go for," Cabrera said. "For tomorrow, I have a similar mindset."
 
"Diana played a strong match, really stuck to her game plan and executed well," head coach Ellie Burger added. "I'm excited to see how she carries today's win and confidence into tomorrow's final."
 
Cabrera is slated to face Belmont's Mariia Hlahola in the first place match tomorrow. If Cabrera wins, she will be the first Bear ever to win a MVC Singles Championship at the No. 1 spot, and the first to win any conference championship since Burger, the current head coach, did in 2019 at the No. 3 spot.
 
Cabrera's match was one of two semifinals matches for MoState, the other occurring on the doubles side, where No. 3 doubles team Mary Houston and Silva Avakian fell to UIC's Ryan/von Dungen, 8-5.
 
In consolation, Avakian defeated Northern Iowa's Lasya Mylavarapu, 6-1, 6-4, at No. 6 singles. Avakian will be playing for fifth place tomorrow, battling Belmont's Meredith Roberts, as well as for third place with Houston at No. 3 doubles, squaring off against Murray State's Marit Kreugel and Annika Pschorr. 
 
"I'm looking forward to watching Silva and Mary in doubles and Silva in singles," Burger said. "There's been a lot of improvement, and I can't wait to see how they come out and compete tomorrow."
 
Eliminated from consolation action on Saturday were Mary Houston at No. 3 singles, Sandra Lukacova at No. 4 singles and Alyson Piskulic at No. 5 singles. 
 
The MVC Individual Championships wraps up tomorrow, with first, third and fifth place matches at Nos. 1-6 singles and first and third place matches in doubles and No. 7 singles. Admission to the tournament is free.

Friday Recap
SPRINGFIELD - Missouri State advanced a pair of competitors into Saturday's semifinal round at the Missouri Valley Conference individual tennis championships here Friday in the first of three days of competition at Cooper Tennis Complex.

No. 1 singles standout Diana Cabrera moved on to the semis with a 6-7 (6-8), 6-1, 6-1 victory over Drake's Ines Stephani in the quarterfinals. She will square off with UIC's Agnes Gustafsson in Saturday's semifinals.

Likewise, Missouri State's No. 3 doubles team of Mary Houston and Avakian advanced to the semifinals with an 8-4 victory over Drake in Friday's opening round. They will square off with UIC's Ryan/von Dungen in the next round.

"We fought tough in every match today," said Missouri State head coach Ellie Burger. "I'm looking forward to seeing the girls make adjustments and fight hard tomorrow."

MoState players working through consolation play on Saturday will be Mary Houston at No. 3 singles, Sandra Lukacova at No. 4, Alyson Piskulic at No. 5, and Silva Avakian at No. 6.

Eliminated on Friday were Juliette Robinson at No. 2 singles, Amy Henning at No. 7 singles, and doubles tandems Robinson/Lukacova at No. 2, and Cabrera/Piskulic at No. 1. 

Admission is free for the tournament, which continues through Sunday at Cooper.