The Saint Louis University tennis teams are wrapping up the final stretch of regular-season matches this week before the men’s and women’s Conference USA Tournament.
The men’s team closed out the home season with a 4-3 win over the University of Texas-San Antonio last weekend and improved to 8-10 overall, while the women dipped to 9-12 with a 7-0 loss at the University of Missouri-Columbia to end their regular-season.
“We lost to San Antonio 7-0 last year, so to beat them 4-3 this year was a good showing on our part,” said coach Jon Zych.
In men’s play, Ikaika Jobe clinched the win in his match against Dennis Andrade in a hard-fought first set 7-6 and picked up the second set 6-1 to win the No. 1 singles match. Lance Vodicka battled through a grueling No. 2 singles match against Ricardo Almeida, splitting the first two sets 5-7 and 7-5, but lost 10-8 in a long tie-breaker.
“Ikaika Jobe clinched the match and played the closest overall match,” Zych said. “He’s used to being under pressure to win at the No. 1 spot, and it was a big team victory.”
In the No. 3 slot, Thomas Kwong also lost in a tie-breaker to Jon Jenkin in a long 7-5, 6-4, 10-4 match. Tom de Larzac lost in the No. 4 singles bracket in a 0-6, 6-4, 6-7 tie-breaker, while Sanjeev Paramanathan won a quick pair of 6-1 games to win the No. 5 match. In the six slot singles, Taylor Curran won by default.
In doubles action, the Bills picked up a win in the No. 2 slot, in which Jobe and Curran defeated Jenkin and Michael Olfindo and in the No. 3 match, which was won be default.
This weekend, the men’s team will travel to Kansas for their final matches before the C-USA Tournament in Milwaukee. Saturday, the Bills will face Wichita State and Sunday the men will cap off the season against Oklahoma.
“We’re so focused on the Conference USA Tournament that we’re just going to use this weekend’s matches to prepare, win or lose,” Zych said.
The women’s team is focused on the looming C-USA Tournament this weekend in New Orleans.
“We’ll probably be seeded 12th, so we’ve really got nothing to lose,” Zych said. “[Melisa Lemus] will lead us in singles and doubles with her playing abilities, her attitude, and her spirit. She beat two nationally ranked players this year and can play with anyone in the conference.”
The women head into the tourney looking to bounce back from a struggle against Mizzou last week in a 7-0 loss.
“It was a really good effort. Missouri has been ranked in the top 40 throughout the year, and they dominated us. The No. 1 doubles match was very good. Melisa Lemus and Vicki Zielinski were up 6-5 in the set … they showed they can play with the best in the country,” Zych said.
Lemus lost in the first singles match to Urska Juric in a 1-6, 2-6 decision, while Zielinski struggled with Karka Sercikova in a pair of 2-6 losses.
In the No. 3 match, Amy O’Handley couldn’t surpass Kristina Olshanskaya, who won the match 6-0, 6-1. Rounding out the singles play, Melissa Cutler dropped a 2-6, 0-6 match to Mary Barry in the No. 4 slot, while Erin Kersten lost to Lucie Ruskova 0-6, 2-6 in the fifth singles match. Rebecca Steer posted the highest score for the Billikens, but couldn’t pull off a win in the No. 6 singles match, and lost to Kelly Crull 1-6, 3-6.
The doubles teams of Lemus and Zielinski, Cutler and Kersten, and Kristen Doyle and O’Handley each lost their respective matches. Lemus and Zielinski held on the longest and took six sets, but lost the match 6-8.
