Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Salukis enter MVC Championships ranked fourth in the conference
04/22/2015 | 12:00:00 | Women's Tennis
By Elizabeth Robinson
SIUSalukis.com
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The Saluki women's tennis team is set to close out the 2015 season this weekend at the MVC Women's Tennis Team Championships in Evansville, Ind. SIU is ranked fourth in the conference going into the tournament, behind Wichita State, Drake and Northern Iowa, in that order.
SIU is coming off a strong final weekend of the regular season, topping Bradley and Illinois State at home to advance to 15-9 on the season with a 4-3 conference record. SIU's three MVC losses are against each of the schools preceding the Salukis in the conference rankings.
"We're going to have to be confident and go for it," head coach Audra Anderson said. "Just overall at the tournament we have to take it one match, one team at a time and really play within our means, but play smart and have everybody be on top of their game."
The Salukis will face Evansville in the opening round of the tournament, with match time at 10 a.m. on Friday. Evansville is hosting the tournament, giving the Purple Aces home court advantage. At the beginning of conference play, however, SIU topped the Aces in Evansville, 4-3. Evansville enters the tournament ranked fifth in the Valley with an 11-9 record and a 3-4 MVC record.
"We did play them on those courts and we beat them, but I think this is going to bring more fans, so it's probably going to be a little bit tougher," Anderson said. "But, history has shown that our girls do play tougher when it comes to the conference tournament."
Leading up to the conference tournament, the Salukis made moves in their doubles pairings, resulting in two doubles sweeps to close out the regular season. Natasha Tomishima and Vitoria Beirao will play at the No. 1 spot, with Meagan Monaghan and Polina Dozortseva at No. 2 and Ariadna Cairo Baza and Yana Golovkina at No. 3.
"We found the doubles teams that are working, and they all won big, so I think that'll give us some confidence there in the doubles point," Anderson said.
The depth of the Salukis' roster has allowed for movement within the singles lineup throughout most of the season. Tomishima and Monaghan have remained at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, respectively, while the other four spots have been switched throught the year.
After a slow start at the onset of the season, the Salukis went on a record-breaking 12-match win streak, ultimately falling to top-ranked Wichita State to snap their run.
Last year the Salukis fell, 4-1, to Drake in the semifinals at the MVC Championships after sweeping Bradley, 4-0.
The Salukis will open MVC Championship play on Friday at the Evansville Tennis Center beginning at 10 a.m. The winner of the SIU's match against Evansville will go on to face the winner of No. 1 Wichita State versus No. 8 Illinois State on Saturday.
