EVANSVILLE, IN. – The Western Illinois University tennis team competed at the OVC Fall Invitational on Sept. 25th-27th at the Wesselman Tennis Center in Evansville, Indiana, facing student-athletes from Bryant, Lindenwood, Southeast Missouri State, SIU Edwardsville and host Southern Indiana.
The Leathernecks posted several strong individual and doubles performances throughout the tournament.
In OVC A Flight singles, Mana Fawcett opened the tournament with a hard-fought victory over Southeast Missouri State's Mia Mayerová, winning 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (12-10). Fawcett advanced to the quarterfinals, where she fell to Bryant's Yahli Noy, 7-5, 6-3.
Chloe Routier also earned a singles victory in the A Flight, defeating Southern Indiana's Anais Negrail, 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-2), after opening the tournament with a 6-2, 6-2 loss to SIU Edwardsville's Elena Palioura.
In the OVC B Flight, Emma Dell earned a first-round victory over Lindenwood's Haylen Hughes, 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (10-4), before falling to Bryant's Maria Jose Hernandez in the quarterfinals, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1.
Lara Diniz de Souza also picked up a win, defeating SIU Edwardsville's Chloe Koons, 6-7,(3-7), 6-4, 1-0,(10-5) before falling to Bryant's Ana Mitevska, 6-2, 6-2, in the quarterfinals.
Ananya Dhankhar competed in the B Flight as well, falling to SIU Edwardsville's Mya Bowe, 6-2, 6-0, before dropping a consolation match to Southern Indiana's Enna Krnjic, 7-5, 6-1.
In the OVC C Flight, Nadezhda Petkova advanced to the semifinals after defeating Lindenwood's Sarah Ben Aba, 0-6, 6-3, 1-0. Petkova's tournament came to an end in the semifinals against Southeast Missouri State's Michelle Huebner, who earned a 1-6, 6-3, 1-0 victory.
Anna-Evelina Trush fell to Southeast Missouri State's Chia-Ling Tsao, 6-1, 6-1, in the quarterfinals and later dropped a consolation match to SIU Edwardsville's Emerson Metzger, 1-6, 6-3, 1-0.
Western Illinois also recorded multiple victories in doubles competition.
The pairing of Jessica Hess and Mana Fawcett opened with a 6-4 victory over Southeast Missouri State's Yontha Tadoum and Plen De Greef. Hess and Fawcett then defeated Bryant's Yahli Noy and Ana Mitevska, 6-2, in the quarterfinals before falling to Southeast Missouri State's Mia Mayerová and Maja Bajorek, 7-5, in the semifinals.
Chloe Routier and Nadezhda Petkova also earned a first-round win, defeating Southern Indiana's Enna Krnjic and Rylie Wilkison, 6-3, before falling to Mayerová and Bajorek, 7-5, in the quarterfinals.
The duo of Lara Diniz de Souza and Emma Dell split their two matches, falling to SIU Edwardsville's Jessica Li and Elena Palioura, 6-1, before responding with a 6-1 victory over Southern Indiana's Anais Negrail and Marian Hayes.
In the OVC B Flight doubles competition, Ananya Dhankhar and Anna-Evelina Trush advanced to the third-place match after falling to SIU Edwardsville's Aliya Rector and Emerson Metzger, 6-3, in the semifinals. Dhankhar and Trush then fell to Southeast Missouri State's Maria Drag and Chia-Ling Tsao, 6-1.
The OVC Fall Invitational provided the Leathernecks with valuable competition against conference opponents as Western Illinois continues its fall season.
Western Illinois Tennis Results:
Singles
Doubles
Ananya Dhankhar/Anna-Evelina Trush: 0-2
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