UTM TENNIS FIGHTS HARD IN SINGLES PLAY, ULTIMATELY FALLS TO WESTERN KENTUCKY IN SECOND-SEMESTER OPENER

Sunday, January 30

Bowling Green, Ky.

6 p.m.

UT Martin

Western Kentucky

UTM TENNIS FIGHTS HARD IN SINGLES PLAY, ULTIMATELY FALLS TO WESTERN KENTUCKY IN SECOND-SEMESTER OPENER

1/30/2022 10:10:00 PM | Tennis

BOX SCORE

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – A two-on-two victory to begin the evening would unfortunately serve as the lone W for the University of Tennessee at Martin tennis team in Sunday night's spring semester debut against Western Kentucky on the road, forced to watch as a pair of promising singles matches ended unresolved thanks to WKU's untimely clinching of the match by a final score of 4-0.

Mizuki Sakurai and Jillian Niedzialowski's lopsided 6-0 doubles win over Sofia Blanco and Mariana Zegada gifted the Skyhawks a rousing start to their first appearance in over three months, although the ensuing two-on-two series fell in the opposite direction in favor of the Hilltoppers to put UTM at a disadvantage approaching singles play.

The tandems of Sina Albersmeier/Jule Streif and Amelia Campbell/Aziza Aubin each fell by the identical score of 6-4 as the evening passed by, negating UT Martin's original victory from Sakurai and Niedzialowski and awarding the doubles nod to Western Kentucky instead.

From this point, WKU only needed three of the six one-on-one sequences to tip towards their end of the scale, eventually getting their wish despite a couple of close calls that seemed to be swaying in the Skyhawks' aid. Aubin came the closest of the six UTM performers to capture a singles win by grabbing a 4-1 lead over Taylor Shaw in the third set before the Hilltoppers captured the overall win elsewhere on the court.

Not only was Aubin on the cusp of a one-on-one triumph, but so too was Albersmeier - who was knotted up at three apiece in set two against Paola Cortez - and Streif, who tallied a 6-3 opening set win over Laura Bernardos but was unable to continue much further due to a trio of Western Kentucky victories in other series.

Cora-Lynn Von Dungren, Rachel Hermanova, and Alexis Cramer (the latter two of which were sidelined during doubles play) were able to knock off Campbell, Sakurai, and Niedzialowski to hand the Hilltoppers the 4-0 win after competing against Lipscomb earlier in the day from their own venue. The two-set natures of all three decisions, combined with WKU's pair of doubles wins earlier in the match, added up for the ill-timed ending of the bout and a close setback in the first act of the Skyhawks' second semester.

Despite the eventual result, UT Martin showed an impressive continuation of stellar play from last fall's multi-team events with the first of 19 dates from now through April in the rearview mirror.

Staying on the road for their next seven meetings across a lofty non-conference trek, the Skyhawks will see four full days off before competing against Lipscomb in match #2 on the schedule, taking place this Friday from Nashville for another 6:00 p.m. start time.