WKU Women’s Tennis lost to Austin Peay 4-1 on April 4 at the Warren County Tennis Facility at Michael O. Buchanon Park.
The match saw the Lady Toppers, now holding a season record of 10-13, secure a singles win from Virginia Madueño at the No. 3 position and a doubles victory from Madueño and Emily Schut at No. 1 doubles. Austin Peay improved its record to 11-4 with the win.
In singles play, Madueño defeated Luca Bohlen of Austin Peay with scores of 6-3, 6-2. Other singles matches included Sophia Baranov defeating Isabelle Einess (6-3, 6-0), Clemence Butavand beating Barbara Olvera (7-6 [7-4], 7-5), and Elana Theil overcoming Elizabeth Sobieski (6-4, 6-1). Two other singles matches were left unfinished.
In doubles action, Madueño and Schut won their match against Bohlen and Yi-Ching Huang (6-3). However, WKU dropped the other two doubles matches. With this result, Schut’s career doubles wins reached her twenty-third for WKU, ranking thirteenth in program history. Madueño now holds a season singles record of fifteen wins and four losses; her fifteen wins are tied for sixth-most in a single season in program history.
Head Coach Greg Davis said about the team’s performance: “We played some really good singles today at points. The big thing was just not being able to push through and get that doubles point. I think it would have changed the match completely. We had some really good performances today. One doubles played extremely well – Emily and Virginia. Then I thought we had some good singles performances today out of Emily, Virginia and Ari. They definitely picked it up today.” Junior Emily Schut commented on her partnership with Madueño: “I think this is one of our first matches since we are playing together since our teammate got injured and I think it’s gone really well, especially for one of the first times playing together. I think we have a great energy, which really makes a difference. I think we fought really hard today in doubles.” Freshman Virginia Madueño described her approach: “I think the key was just staying confident during the entire match, keeping my energy level up and then staying aggressive and playing inside the baseline, hitting big serves and hitting with my forehand. I think I did a great job at that.”
The Lady Toppers will conclude their regular season on Thursday, April 9 with Senior Day against Middle Tennessee.
