GALESBURG, Ill. – The Western Illinois Women's Tennis team dropped a 4-1 decision to SIUE in its home opener on Sunday, March 20 at the Lakeside Racquet Club.
The Fighting Leathernecks (1-10) picked up victories in one singles matches and one doubles match. Two of the matches in singles play went unfinished with Western Illinois leading in one.
Marcela Brandao picked up a win in No. 1 singles (6-3, 6-0) and was also victorious at No. 1 doubles, where she paired with Jill Furlong for an 8-1 win,
"Although we were not able to match the talent of SIUE, Marcela had an excellent day," said head coach Chris Kane. "She played with good
consistency and made good choices of when to attack and when to keep
the rally going. Our top doubles team played their best match of the
year as well."
In other singles action, Jill Furlong fell at the No. 2 spot (6-0, 6-4) and Amy Unzicker was behind at No. 3 singles (6-4, 3-2) in a match that went unfinished.
Claire Griffin lost in straight sets (6-3, 6-3) at the No. 4 spot and Melissa Kaufmann trailed in an unfinished match (2-0) at No. 5 singles. Madison Zimmerman was downed in straight sets (6-0, 6-0) at the No. 6 spot.
In doubles play, SIUE won the No. 2 and 3 matches by scores of 8-2 and 8-3. Unzicker and Griffin teamed up at No. 2 doubles while Kaufmann and Kara Chicoine were Western's No. 3 doubles team.
The women return to action when they travel to Bradley for a 1 p.m. match on Saturday, March 26. Western Illinois will face its first Summit League opponents in Kansas City, Mo., when they take on Oral Roberts, UMKC, Oakland and Southern Utah from March 31-April 2.
