Western Illinois Women's Tennis Opens Season Against Eastern Illinois, Illinois State

Leathernecks open 2016 at home, host Eastern Illinois

MACOMB, Ill. - The Western Illinois women's tennis team will kick off the 2016 season with a pair of contests against in-state foes Eastern Illinois and Illinois State this weekend (Jan. 30-31). The Leathernecks will host the Panthers in Galesburg, Illinois, on Saturday at 12 p.m. before traveling to Normal, Illinois for a contest against the Redbirds at 1.

"The women have been working very hard the past couple of weeks on the court, in the gym and the weight room," said Lisa Melz-Jennings. "We have a solid nucleus of five players returning with good experience who are excited to show how they have improved and are eager to play against someone other than themselves."

The Fighting Leathernecks return four players from the 2014-15 season in Arianna Demos, Nicole Jones, Courtney Lubbers and Jenna Wallace. Sophomore transfer Maria Bessmertnaya rounds out the squad as Western's lone newcomer. Bessmertnaya orginally hales from Pyatigorsk, Russia, but played her freshman season at Akron.

Western returns one of the top players in The Summit League from a year ago in Lubbers, who earned first-team All Summit League honors as a freshman after recording 12 regular season victories, tied for the most in the league by a No. 1 singles player.

The Leathernecks look to continue the momentum from the fall season, which was highlighted by the Quincy Invitational where Lubbers, Demos, Jones, and Bessmertnaya all cruised to victory in their respective singles brackets. The doubles duo of Lubbers and Bessmertnaya also won their flight's respective championship.

"EIU is a team that swept us last year and the team remembers that and will be ready. I look forward to these next two contests to see exactly what we need to focus on in practice," added Melz-Jennings. "Win or lose, these non-league matches are important, if only for the simple fact to gain confidence and prepare our team for the rigors of Summit League competition."

The Leathernecks posted six wins during the 2014-15 season, the most since 09-10. This season, the Purple and Gold will play in front of a home crowd 11 times. League play begins on March 5th with a matchup against IUPUI. The Summit League Championships will be hosted by Omaha on April 29-30 in Omaha, Nebraska.

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Players Mentioned

Arianna Demos: Sophomore

Nicole Jones: Junior

Courtney Lubbers: Sophomore

Jenna Wallace: Junior

Maria Bessmertnaya: Sophomore; Akron

Players Mentioned

Arianna Demos
: Sophomore

Nicole Jones
: Junior

Courtney Lubbers
: Sophomore

Jenna Wallace
: Junior

Maria Bessmertnaya
: Sophomore; Akron