Lady Topper tennis drops season opener to Bellarmine

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Women’s Tennis lost 4-3 to Bellarmine in the season opener Thursday at the Warren County Tennis Facility at Michael O. Buchanon Park.

The Lady Toppers drop to 0-1 on the season with the loss to the Knights (1-2), but WKU picked up a doubles victory from the true freshmen duo of Virginia Madueño and Barbara Olvera, as well as singles victories from Andra Sirbu, Emily Schut and Madueño.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Singles (Order of finish: 3, 6, 5, 1, 2, 4)

1. Vendula Kryslova (BELL) def. Isabelle Einess (WKU) 7-5, 7-6 (8-6)
2. Andra Sirbu (WKU) def. Claudia Fuste (BELL) 6-2, 4-6, 6-2
3. Gracie Hurley (BELL) def. Barbara Olvera (WKU) 6-3, 6-2
4. Emily Schut (WKU) def. Reese Parker (BELL) 5-7, 6-2, 6-2
5. Virginia Madueño (WKU) def. Lillie Willis (BELL) 6-0, 3-6, 6-2
6. #111 Nikola Kollaritsch (BELL) def. Elizabeth Sobieski (WKU) 6-0, 6-2

Doubles (Order of finish: 1, 3, 2)

1. Vendula Kryslova/Reese Parker (BELL) def. Andra Sirbu/Emily Schut (WKU) 6-2
2. Gracie Hurley/Lillie Willis (BELL) def. Isabelle Einess/Elizabeth Sobieski (WKU) 6-3
3. Barbara Olvera/Virginia Madueño (WKU) def. Claudia Fuste/Nikola Kollaritsch (BELL) 6-3

NOTABLES

• WKU falls to 0-1 overall and 0-1 at home this season with the loss.
• WKU falls to 9-1 all-time against Bellarmine.
• Barbara Olvera and Virginia Madueño improved to 1-0 together in doubles. The two were both playing in their first doubles match of their college careers.
• Andra Sirbu, Emily Schut and Madueño each improved to 1-0 in singles play this season. Sirbu competed at the No. 2 position, Schut competed at the No. 4 position and Madueño competed at the No. 5 position. Sirbu and Madueño were each playing in their first singles matches with WKU, while Schut picked up her 16th singles victory as a member of the Lady Topper Tennis program.

QUOTABLE

“I thought we played really well in singles against a really good Bellarmine team. Bellarmine is coming off going to Auburn and playing a doubleheader, so they had a couple matches already. Our first match of the season, four out of our six players in our singles lineup are brand new players this season, so looking at it that way, I thought we performed very well. I thought late in the match we brought ourselves back into it and had an opportunity to get back into it, but the key ended up being the doubles point and Bellarmine played just a little bit better than us today.” – WKU Women’s Tennis Head Coach Greg Davis, on the loss to Bellarmine.

“I think we did a great job competing and fighting as a team. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get the win as a team today, but it’s the first match, it’s the beginning, so we’re working to get better and just continue fighting and hopefully getting those wins.” – WKU Women’s Tennis junior Andra Sirbu.

“For being the first matches, we played really good. We’re looking forward to the next one and just focused on it.” – WKU Women’s Tennis freshman Virginia Madueño, on her first matches at WKU.

NEXT UP

The Lady Toppers will be on the road for their next two matches. WKU will face Vanderbilt on Saturday, Jan. 17, at 11 a.m. CT in Nashville, Tennessee, before traveling to Louisville on Monday, Jan. 19.