SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State women's tennis picked up its second-straight dual victory after taking down visiting Eastern Illinois, 5-2, here Saturday afternoon.
"Really proud of how the girls came out and took care of business today," head coach Ellie Burger said. "Every single match was competitive, and they fought incredibly hard. I'm excited to carry this into the next match."
The Bears (2-1) earned six total wins today. To begin the dual, Missouri State secured the doubles point thanks to victories in flights two and three. The tandem of Juliette Robinson/Sandra Lukacova set the tone for MSU by taking down EIU's Lauren Ellis/Jemma Booth, 6-2, in the No. 3 slot. Then, the doubles team of Diana Cabrera/Alyson Piskulic defeated EIU's Brittany Steven/Madeline Monroy, 6-4, to clinch the doubles point and give the Bears an early 1-0 advantage before the No. 1 match ended.
In singles action, Robinson kept the early momentum with the home team by defeating Eastern Illinois' Madeline Monroy (6-4, 6-1) in No. 4 singles. After opening with an 0-4 combined dual record in singles and doubles, Robinson responded with her first two wins of the season.
Next, Diana Cabrera stayed perfect on the season, improving to a combined 6-0 in singles and doubles, with a victory in No. 1 singles over EIU's Christine Gouws (6-2, 6-2) to put the Bears within one win of clinching the dual.
EIU made things interesting with a win in No. 3 singles, however Missouri State responded with two more victories to put the dual well out of reach for the Panthers. Sharing the same perfect mark (6-0) in duals as doubles partner Cabrera, Piskulic took care of EIU's Lauren Ellis in flight six (6-2, 6-3). Then, Sandra Lukacova brought the Bears' tally to five with a win over EIU's Brittany Steven in the No. 5 position (7-6 (5), 6-1).
Ultimately, the Panthers took the No. 2 singles match to bring the final tally of the dual to a 5-2 score in MSU's favor.
After opening play at home this weekend, Missouri State is a perfect 2-0 in duals at Cooper Tennis Complex this season. The Bears will stay home next week for a matchup with Kansas City on Friday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. in Springfield. Admission is free.
Results:
Singles
No. 1 – Diana Cabrera (MSU) def. Christine Gouws (EIU), 6-2, 6-2
No. 2 – Elizaveta Bukraba-Ulanova (EIU) def. Tiera Jarmond (MSU), 6-7 (0), 6-4, 7-5
No. 3 – Jemma Booth (EIU) def. Mary Houston (MSU), 6-4, 6-3
No. 4 – Juliette Robinson (MSU) def. Madeline Monroy (EIU), 6-4, 6-1
No. 5 – Sandra Lukacova (MSU) def. Brittany Steven (EIU), 6-1, 7-6 (5)
No. 6 – Alyson Piskulic (MSU) def. Lauren Ellis (EIU), 6-2, 6-3
Order of finish – 4,1,3,2,5,6
Doubles
No .1 – Christine Gouws/Elizaveta Bukraba-Ulanova (EIU) led Mary Houston/Tiera Jarmond (MSU), 5-3 (match suspended due to doubles point being clinched)
No. 2 – Diana Cabrera/Alyson Piskulic (MSU) def. Brittany Steven/Madeline Monroy (EIU), 6-4
No. 3 – Sandra Lukacova/Juliette Robinson (MSU) def. Lauren Ellis/Jemma Booth (EIU), 6-2
Order of finish – 3,2
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