CARBONDALE, Ill. – The Cleveland State women's tennis team dropped a close match at Southern Illinois Saturday afternoon, falling 4-3 to the Salukis.
"This was another tough match for us today, they were just a little bit better than us indoors, but I would love to play this match again outdoors and see what the outcome would be," assistant coach Frank Polito said. "We played some really good doubles again, with our No. 2 and No. 3 teams really controlling play throughout their matches. Alex Bush played a great singles match for us, and probably should have won in straight sets, but was able to stay focused and concentrate until she was able to close out the match. Princess also had a strong showing in singles, and she has constantly been improving week-to-week, which is great to see."
The Vikings continued their momentum in doubles play Saturday, picking up the first point of the match. CSU notched wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles positions with an 8-5 victory from Princess Gbadamosi/Alex Bush, and an 8-6 win from Kara Sherwood/Victoria Bensimon, respectively.
After getting out to a 1-0 lead, Cleveland State was only able to manage two singles victories at No. 2 and No. 6 singles. Bush picked up her second singles win of the weekend at the No. 2 spot, earning a 6-1, 6-7 (0), 6-4 victory. Bush is now tied for ninth with teammate Alex Power on the all-time singles wins list, with 52 career wins.
CSU's third point came from Gbadamosi at No. 6 singles, as she picked up an 8-4 win. Because of limited court space, the two teams agreed to play an 8-game pro set in the final singles match.
Next up for the Vikings will be their annual spring break trip, as they head to the state of Texas for three matches. First up will be a contest at Abilene Christian on Saturday, March 8.
Southern Illinois 4, Cleveland State 3
Doubles:
- Monaghan/Tomishima (SIU) def. Power/Folkers (CSU), 8-4
- Gbadamosi/Bush (CSU) def. Love/Lee (SIU), 8-5
- Sherwood/Bensimon (CSU) def. Dozortseva/Baza (SIU), 8-6
Singles:
- Natasha Tomishima (SIU) def. Lauren Golick (CSU), 6-4, 6-2
- Alex Bush (CSU) def. Meagan Monaghan (SIU), 6-1, 6-7 (0), 6-4
- Anita Lee (SIU) def. Kara Sherwood (CSU), 6-4, 6-0
- Polina Dozortseva (SIU) def. Mathilde Orange (CSU), 6-2, 6-3
- Ariadna Cairo Baza (SIU) def. Alex Power (CSU), 6-2, 6-4
- Princess Gbadamosi (CSU) def. Gisela Cairo Baza (SIU), 8-4
