EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Western Illinois women's tennis opened the 2021 fall season at the SIUE Cougar Invite on Friday (Sep 10) and concluded the weekend action on Saturday (Sept. 7).
Day 1: singles vs. SIUE, doubles vs. Bradley and EIU
The first of three in-state tournaments featured both singles and doubles battles against Eastern Illinois, Bradley and host Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.
The longest tenured Leatherneck on the team, junior Lucky Kancherla led the Leathernecks with a strong singles performance from the No. 5 spot against SIUE. She forced a tiebreaker set against her matchup from SIUE after a 6-4 set two win, but was just outlasted 10-3 in the third set.
Western traveled both newcomers to SIUE with Ashley Jacobson falling 6-3, 6-2 in the No. 3 spot. Paige Grice kept it close in her first singles match as a Leatherneck, but couldn't find a win in the No. 4 spot dropping both sets, 6-4 and 7-6 (3). Lorena Castellanos (No. 1), Agatha Carbonell (No.2) and Maria Rybka (No. 6) each fell in straight sets in singles play.
The freshmen pairing of Jacobson and Grice showed up in doubles play against Eastern Illinois, earning their first wins as Leathernecks with a 6-2 victory at No. 2. Kancherla and Carbonell earned their first win of the fall season with a 7-6 (3) at the No. 3 spot against Bradley on Friday.
Day 2: singles vs. Bradley and EIU, doubles vs. SIUE
Saturday proved to be a better day for singles action for the Purple and Gold. While the team was unsuccessful to take a set against the Bradley, several Leathernecks secured their first fall victories against EIU.
Rybka (No. 6) and Kancherla (No. 5) each won their bouts in straight sets. The newest Leathernecks, Grice (No. 4) and Jacobson (No.3) earned their first singles wins at Western Illinois. Grice won 6-1 in straight sets while Jacobson took her first set 6-4 and took the match after her opponent retired.
Carbonell forced a third set at No.2 after taking the second set 6-4. She came up short, falling in the third set 10-6.
The Leathernecks finished weekend doubles play dropping all three matchups against tournament host SIUE.
The Leathernecks continue the fall slate at the Quincy University Tournament from Sept. 17-18.
