Women's tennis defeats Bradley 5-2

MACOMB, Ill. - The Western Illinois women's tennis team secured a 5-2 victory over Bradley in its final home match of the season Tuesday.

The day started slow and forced the Fighting Leathernecks to work from behind as the Braves recorded the doubles point. This week's Summit League Player of the Week Amy Unzicker paired with Claire Griffin for Western's only doubles victory at the No. 3 spot, 8-1. Stephanie Baumer and Jill Furlong battled at the No. 2 spot, but fell 9-7.

"I'm really proud of the team today," Western Illinois head coach Michael Hunt said. "This was a good win for us and should give us a lot of momentum going into this weekend at Fort Wayne. We didn't play very well in the doubles and I got onto the team a little bit and they responded just perfectly."

Yana Meinert took Western's first victory over Jessica Buterbaug, 6-2 and 6-0, at the No. 4 spot. Kate Kennedy followed with a win in the No. 6 position, 6-1 and 6-0. Unzicker grabbed her second win of the day on the No. 5 court, a 6-3, 6-2 defeat over Bradley's Kennedy Scott.

Baumer won No. 2 singles, 6-3 and 6-2, over Emily Regenold. Jill Furlong secured the Leatherneck win with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Kelly Donohue at the No. 3 spot.

"There was a lot more intensity in the singles play and ultimately that gave us the confidence we needed to close out the match," Hunt said. "Yana and Kate both set the tone early in the singles with their wins. They did a really good job of taking care of business and getting off the court quickly. Hopefully, these last few wins will give us confidence for this weekend."

The Leathernecks enter a three-day Summit League cluster beginning at 9 a.m., Thursday, April 1. Western takes on host IPFW to start the day and closes day one with a match against IUPUI. The squad will face Oakland on Friday and Oral Roberts on Saturday in Fort Wayne, Ind., to close out the regular season.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Jill Furlong: PLAYER; 5' 6"; Freshman

Kate Kennedy: PLAYER; 5' 4"; Junior

Amy Unzicker: PLAYER; 5' 7"; Sophomore

Yana Meinert: PLAYER; 5' 9"; Senior

Stephanie Baumer: PLAYER; 5' 10"; Senior

Claire Griffin: PLAYER; 5' 6"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Jill Furlong
: 5' 6"; Freshman
: PLAYER

Kate Kennedy
: 5' 4"; Junior
: PLAYER

Amy Unzicker
: 5' 7"; Sophomore
: PLAYER

Yana Meinert
: 5' 9"; Senior
: PLAYER

Stephanie Baumer
: 5' 10"; Senior
: PLAYER

Claire Griffin
: 5' 6"; Sophomore
: PLAYER