MACOMB, IL. — The Western Illinois University women's tennis team competed against a strong field of opponents at the Marquette Indoor Invitational facing competitors from Marquette University, UW-Milwaukee, Northern Illinois University, and the University of Nebraska Omaha.
The Leathernecks continued to show improvements throughout their final fall competition, highlighted by singles victories from Lara Rossetto Diniz de Souza, Ananya Dhankhar and Chloe Routier, along with competitive doubles performances.
Singles Highlights
Lara Rossetto Diniz de Souza finished the weekend with a 1-1 singles record, battling hard to a three-set victory over Catherine Rhegness. After dropping the opening set 7-5, Rossetto Diniz de Souza bounced back to win the second set 6-2 before closing out the match with a 10-5 victory in the deciding tiebreak, played in lieu of a third set. She also faced Marquette's Lea Holmlund, falling 6-4, 6-3 in a competitive matchup.
Ananya Dhankhar had another solid singles performance over the weekend. Dhankhar earned a victory over Marquette's Kate Thorne, winning 6-4, 6-4. She followed that performance with a tough semi-final loss against Paulina Masherava of Northern Illinois, falling 6-3, 6-3.
Chloé Routier rounded out the singles highlights with a 1-1 record. Routier earned an impressive victory over Northern Illinois' Sophia Shlyakhta, winning a thrilling tiebreak in the first set before a strong performance in the second set to finish off the victory by a score of 7-6, 6-3. In her semifinal matchup, Routier battled Elizabeth Stuckslager from Marquette in a tightly contested match. Routier was able to win the first set 6-2 before Stuckslager was able to flip the script to secure the second set 7-6. In the third set tiebreaker, the incredible match ended with Routier falling by a score of 10-7.
Doubles Highlights
Western Illinois competed well in doubles throughout the weekend, with Mana Fawcett and Jessica Hess earning a 1-1 record as a pairing. The duo started with an impressive victory over Northern Illinois before coming up short in a high-quality match against Omaha.
Fawcett partnered with Routier in doubles on day two, earning a victory over Omaha before falling to Marquette. The weekend provided the Leathernecks with an opportunity to test their doubles pairings against high-level competition throughout the weekend.
Looking Ahead
The Marquette Invitational provided Western Illinois with valuable match experience and opportunities to see where they will stack up against many strong opponents. With victories throughout the weekend in singles and doubles, the Leathernecks will look to build on these results from their final fall competition.
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