Southern Illinois University
Evansville
Women's Tennis drops MVC opener at Evansville
03/31/2011 | 12:00:00 | Women's Tennis
March 31, 2011
By Dana Ingraham
SIUSalukis.com
EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- Southern Illinois dominated in doubles play but was unable to transfer it to the singles game as the Salukis fell to Evansville, 6-1, in their Missouri Valley Conference opener.
Thursday's match marked the first time Southern took the court in nearly two weeks, having two matches cancelled within the last week since its return from the spring break tour in South Carolina.
SIU received a boost with the return of junior Vishakha Sheoran to the doubles lineup, who had been sidelined the past three weeks due to injury. Sheoran and Anita Lee combined for an 8-4 win at the third spot while Melanie Delsart and Jennifer Dien won by the same margin to earn the doubles point and give the Salukis a 1-0 advantage.
However, Southern struggled in singles play, falling in straight sets in three out of the five matches that were played. Dien fought back after dropping her first set, 6-1, at No. 3 to even the score with a 6-4 victory before eventually falling 10-6.
Anastacia Simons made quick work of her first set at No. 5 with a 6-0 sweep, but dropped the next two by a score of 6-2.
Sheoran was unable to return to the singles lineup, forcing SIU to default the sixth position.
"We played great doubles today but couldn't keep the momentum going in singles," said head coach Audra Nothwehr. "It was hard for us to adjust to the outside courts when we've been forced inside all week because of the weather. It was exciting to have Vishakha back for doubles, she did a great job."
Southern Illinois (7-9, 0-1 MVC) will step back from MVC play next Monday when it travels to SIU-Edwardsville to make up the match that was rained out last weekend. First serve is set for 4:15 p.m.
Evansville 6, Southern Illinois 1
March 31, 2011
Evansville, Ind.
Singles
1. Kate Chybowski (UE) def. Melanie Delsart (SIU) 6-4, 6-4
2. Dora Kotsiou (UE) def. Anita Lee (SIU) 6-0, 6-1
3. Aleks Dzakula (UE) def. Jennifer Dien (SIU) 6-1, 4-6, 10-6
4. Pin Sorensen (UE) def. Korey Love (SIU) 6-2, 6-3
5. Carolyn Caire (UE) def. Anastacia Simons (SIU) 0-6, 6-2, 6-2
6. Kelsey Costales (UE) def. SIU by default
Doubles
1. Delsart/Dien (SIU) def. Chybowski/Kotsiou (UE), 8-4
2. Sorensen/Dzakula (UE) def. Simons/Love (SIU) 8-5
3. Lee/Sheoran (SIU) def. Raatz/Caire (UE), 8-4
Players Mentioned
