CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — The Western Illinois University women's tennis team battled through a challenging second day of competition at the SEMO Invite, gaining valuable experience and continuing to build toward the upcoming Ohio Valley Conference Fall Tournament.
The Leathernecks competed in two rounds of singles action and one round of doubles throughout the day, with several matches going the distance and showcasing the team's competitiveness.
In the opening round of singles, Anna Trush fell to SEMO's Chia Ling Tsao, 2-6, 5-7. At No. 2 singles, Chloe Routier battled Maria before falling 0-6, 4-6.
At No. 3 singles, Laura Diniz de Souza was defeated by Sonya Zemtsova, 2-6, 1-6.
Mana Fawcett provided one of the day's closest battles at No. 4 singles. Fawcett captured the opening set, 6-4, before dropping the second set, 4-7. She continued to fight through extra sets but ultimately came up short against Maja Bajorek, 6-10.
At No. 5 singles, Ananya Dhankhar battled Pien de Greef, falling 6-7, 4-6, while Emma Dell dropped her No. 6 singles match to Mia Mayerova, 3-6, 2-6.
Western Illinois also competed hard in doubles action, earning one victory in three matches.
The duo of Jessica Hess and Mana Fawcett picked up the Leathernecks' doubles victory, defeating SEMO, 6-2, at No. 1 doubles.
At No. 2 doubles, Dell and Diniz de Souza fell to SEMO's Tadoum and Tsao, 4-6. At No. 3 doubles, Trush and Dell were defeated by SEMO's Zemtsova and Huebner, 2-6.
The Leathernecks returned to singles action for the second round, where Western Illinois earned a victory in one of five matches.
Dhankhar delivered the Leathernecks' second singles win of the day, defeating SEMO's Michelle Huebner at No. 3 singles in a hard-fought extra-set battle. After splitting the opening sets, Dhankhar remained composed in the deciding set, earning a 10-6 victory to secure the win.
Despite the tough results throughout the day, the Leathernecks continued to compete with determination and gained valuable match experience against conference competition.
Western Illinois will look to use the SEMO Invite as motivation and preparation for its upcoming fall schedule. The Leathernecks return to competition Sept. 25-27 in Evansville, Indiana, for the OVC Fall Tournament, where they will look to build on the lessons and competitive experience gained in Cape Girardeau.
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