Southern Illinois University
Belmont
Women's Tennis knocks off Belmont, 4-3
02/17/2007 | 12:00:00 | Women's Tennis
Feb. 16, 2007
Ryan Shaw
www.SIUSalukis.com
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. - The Southern Illinois women's tennis team picked up a victory on the road against the Belmont Bruins, 4-3.
The two teams split the singles matches 3-3. The Salukis got out to a shaky start in singles as Sabine Tsala Mvilongo, Agata Skorupska and Ame Blacketer dropped their matches.
The Salukis stormed back, winning at the No. 4, 5 and 6 positions to even the match at 3-3. Jessica Flannery defeated April Bradley, 6-0, 7-6, Michela Cruise pulled out a hard-fought win, 7-5, 7-6, over Katie Rhodes. Amanda Taillefer earned the tying point with her 6-0, 6-3 victory over Kelly Pence.
With the score tied heading into doubles play, the Salukis had to win two of the three doubles matches in order to win the point and the match. The Bruins took the first victory on court one Tatiana Pozo and Bradley defeated Tsala Mvilongo and Blacketer, 8-6.
The Salukis then took over, taking the No. 2 win as Skorupska and Martina Vianna Ce defeated Rhodes and Conyer, 8-4,
After splitting the first two doubles matches, the match came down to the winner of the match on court three. Flannery and Taillefer battled hard and pulled out a close victory over Johansson and Pence, 9-8, clinching the match victory.
The Salukis are back in action tomorrow against Lipscomb, starting at 1 p.m.
"Lipscomb is a hard-working, scrappy team," said head coach Rene Vidal. "We will have to play better and smarter against Lipscomb."
Southern Illinois 4, Belmont 3
Singles:
1. Johansson, Linda (BEL) def. Tsala Mvilongo, Sabine. (SIU) 6-4, 7-5
2. Pozo, Tatiana (BEL) def. Skorupska, Agata (SIU) 4-6, 6-2, 6-0
3. Conyer, Elizabeth (BEL) def. Blacketer, Ame (SIU) 6-0, 6-0
4. Flannery, Jessica (SIU) def. Bradley, April (BEL) 6-0, 7-6
5. Cruise, Michela (SIU) def. Rhodes, Katie (BEL) 7-5, 7-6
6. Taillefer, Amanda (SIU) def. Pence, Kelly (BEL) 6-0, 6-3
Doubles:
1. Pozo/Bradley (BEL) def. Tsala Mvilongo/Blacketer (SIU) 8-6
2. Skorupska/Vianna Ce (SIU) def. Rhodes/Conyer (BEL) 8-4
3. Flannery/Taillefer (SIU) def. Johansson/Pence (BEL) 9-8
