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Tennessee Wesleyan edges Union 4-3 in top-15 women's tennis showdown
Posted: Mar 26, 2023

Tennessee Wesleyan edges Union 4-3 in top-15 women's tennis showdown

BARBOURVILLE, Ky. - A battle of highly ranked Bulldogs lived up to expectations Sunday, though the final result sadly didn't go in Union College's favor.

No. 9 Tennessee Wesleyan rallied for two clutch singles wins and improved to 9-0 in Appalachian Athletic Conference play with a thrilling 4-3 win over No. 15 Union in women's tennis on Sunday.

It was the first loss of the season for the Bulldogs, who are now 9-1 overall and 4-1 in the AAC.

Union got off to a great start as the teams of Rin Igarashi and Karen Kondo (6-2 at No. 1) and Liliana Drukerova and Nicole Viljoen (6-4, No. 3) secured wins for the doubles point.

Kondo and Drukerova then managed to earn straight-set wins at No. 2 and 3 singles respectively, putting Union in a position where it needed only a win at No. 1 or 6 singles to secure the conference lead. And while both matches would go three sets, neither went the way of the Bulldogs in black and orange.

In arguably the match of the day, Igarashi and Olivia Alcala split the first two sets -- Igarashi won the first 6-4, Alcala the second 7-5 -- at No. 1 singles then went to a 4-4 tie in the third. Up 30-0 and serving, Igarashi looked to be in position to take control, only for Alcala to rebound by winning the next four points to break serve before holding on for the match-tying 6-4 win.

That left only the No. 6 singles match between Nicole Viljoen and Astrid Staksrud left to decide the winner. And while Viljoen rebounded from a 6-1 first set loss with a 6-1 win over her own in the second, she ran out of gas in the final, losing, once again, by the tally of 6-1.

The Bulldogs are now even with Reinhardt (5-1) in the loss column but can take control of second place in the AAC standings when they travel to face the Eagles at 1 p.m. Tuesday.

DOUBLES

  1. Rin Igarashi and Karen Kondo (UC) def. Olivia Alcala and Josefa Fernandez 6-2
  2. Mercedes Chasset and Natacha Mesa (TWU) def. Anastasiia Iakovlieva and Mai Kitashita 6-2
  3. Liliana Drukerova and Nicole Viljoen (UC) def. Julieta Beltramino and Raquel Canadas 6-4

SINGLES

  1. Alcala (TWU) def. Igarashi 4-6, 7-5, 6-4
  2. Kondo (UC) def. Fernandez 6-3, 6-3
  3. Drukerova (UC) def. Mesa 6-3, 6-2
  4. Chasset (TWU) def. Iakovlieva 6-4, 6-4
  5. Canadas (TWU) def. Maria Belen Arteaga 6-3, 6-0
  6. Astrid Staksrud (TWU) def. Nicole Viljoen 6-1, 1-6, 6-1