Southern Illinois University
Drake
Women's Tennis defeats Drake, 5-2
04/13/2008 | 12:00:00 | Women's Tennis
April 13, 2008
By Beth Miller
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois women's team hosted Drake Sunday, in their last home match of the season. The Salukis honored the team's two seniors Amanda Taillefer and Sabine Tsala Mvilongo, while defeating the Bulldogs, 5-2.
Drake (8-13, 2-4) was missing a sixth player, giving the Salukis (10-9, 3-2) a one point advantage heading into doubles with a win by default at No. 3 doubles. The No. 2 doubles team of Martina Vianna Cé and Michela Cruise finished first with an 8-3 win over Irina Kalashnikova and Kari Sloboth, giving the Salukis the doubles point. No. 1 doubles came down to a tiebreaker, but Jessica Flannery and Sabine Tsala Mvilongo were unable to hold off Sarah Plowman and Veronika Leszayova, falling 7-8 (2).
"I was very impressed with doubles today, we were much more aggressive" said head coach Audra Nothwehr. "Little bit of lack of focus at the end of the first doubles match to close out that match. But overall, I was happy with it."
Drake's Lack of a sixth player, resulted in a default win for Courtney at No. 6 singles, giving the Salukis an automatic 2-0 lead in singles. Tsala was the first to finish, dropping her match at the top seed to Lesayova, 6-2, 6-1, while Cruise grabbed the victory at No. 3 singles against Sloboth, putting the Salukis up 3-1. Cé fought a tough match at No. 2 singles, but fell 6-3, 6-4 to Kalashnikova. Taillefer walked away from her last home match at SIU with a win over Plowman at No. 5 singles. Taillefer's victory clenched the win for the Salukis, with a 4-2 lead. Flannery rounded out the day at No. 4 singles against Zawislak. Flannery took the first set, 6-2, and went on to win the second set, 7-6 (3) in the tiebreaker.
"Sabine has had a good weekend, she was pretty worn down today, which is not like her," Nothwehr said. "Amanda played fantastic at No. 5, she controlled the points and gave us our fourth point to win the match."
The Salukis will be back in action Friday, as they travel to Indiana State to battle the Sycamores. Match time is set for 2 p.m.
Southern Illinois 5, Drake 2
Singles
No. 1 - Veronika Leszayova (DU) def. Sabine Tsala Mvilongo (SIU) 6-2, 6-1
No. 2 - Irina Kalashnikova (DU) def. Martina Vianna Cé (SIU) 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 - Michela Cruise (SIU) def. Kari Sloboth (DU) 6-2, 6-1
No. 4 - Jessica Flannery (SIU) def. Daria Zawislak (DU) 6-2, 7-6 (3)
No. 5 - Amanda Taillefer (SIU) def. Sarah Plowman (DU) 6-1, 6-3
No. 6 - Andrea Courtney (SIU) won by default
Doubles
No. 1 - Plowman/Leszayova (DU) def. Flannery/Tsala (SIU) 7-8 (2)
No. 2 - Cé/Cruise (SIU) def. Kalashnikova/Sloboth (DU) 8-3
No. 3 - Courtney/Taillefer (SIU) won by default
Southern Illinois 10-9, 3-2
Drake 8-13, 2-4
Players Mentioned
