After a chilly weekend, the Saint Louis University women’s
tennis team looks to up end Wichita State at home this weekend. The
Wichita State Shockers (0-1) are coming off of a loss of their own,
as they fell to 33rd ranked Kansas State last weekend.
“We took a lot out of our earlier matches even if we didn’t
win,” said junior Melissa Cutler. “We are bringing a lot of
positive energy and should play well.”
“Our schedule has been tough,” Cutler said, “But we’re becoming
stronger. We look forward to fan support, especially when we move
outdoors to the courts behind the soccer field.”
The Billikens (1-9, 0-2 Conference-USA) dropped their opening
match on last weekend’s road trip to UAB (1-4, 1-2 C-USA) by a
score of 5-2. SLU stayed in Alabama to face Birmingham-Southern,
but dropped that match 4-3, despite winning the doubles point.
In the closing match of the weekend, Middle Tennessee defeated
the Bills 7-0, sweeping all of the matches.
“We played outside at UAB, where it was very cold. We play our
home matches indoors in this weather, and weren’t used to the
cold,” said Cutler. “Middle Tennessee was tough, but we played
pretty well.”
“We started out against some very good teams, and our
competition has been very hard,” said freshman Katarina Lozanova.
“If we’ve lost, it’s been close; usually 4-3 or 5-2. We’re
improving.”
“We’ve had a tough schedule, but we’re becoming stronger. Of our
six players, three are freshmen,” said Cutler.
Lozanova, one of those freshmen, now holds the Bills’ No. 1
spot.
“It’s hard to be freshman and hold No. 1 and No. 2,” Lozanova
said of her position and that of Amanda Hellberg.
“It’s hard to be a leader on a young team.” Lozanova graduated
from Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Md., and was once ranked
in the top 10 in her native country of Bulgaria.
“We have been working very hard at practices. Hopefully,
everybody will be performing better as we get to the Conference USA
matches,” Lozanova said.
SLU men’s tennis, looks to rebound at home this weekend. The
Bills dropped all three matches in a three school, Texas road swing
last weekend.
“Texas A&M Corpus Cristi won decisively, but we had chances
in every match,” said senior Thomas Kwong. The Bills (1-8) fell 7-0
to a squad ranked 66th.
“The doubles point decided our loss to Texas Pan-Am, where we
lost 4-3,” Kwong said.
“We got the doubles point and the Nos. 1 and 2 singles matches
and the momentum at the University of Texas-San Antonio, but still
lost a close match,” Kwong said. The score was 4-3.
“We host Evansville this Friday, a team that we lost to 4-3 two
years ago, while I was a freshman. It was a disappointment, and I
want the revenge. We see this as a winnable match,” Kwong said.
Also on the Bills’ slate this weekend is Xavier, who will make
the trip down to St. Louis from Cincinnati for what is shaping up
to be a tough Sunday morning match.
“This is the first time we’ve played them while I’ve been at
SLU,” Kwong said. “This should be an even match, just like last
weekend.”
While the Billikens started off the season kind of rocky, they
have started to come on as of late and are looking to compound a
couple victories together to start a streak and build upon it.
“We had a rough start, and hopefully we’ll get a second wind,”
Kwong said of the season.
“We play until mid-April; we’re focusing on getting better and
going to the conference tournament. Hopefully, we’ll finish fifth
or better.”
Set of Home Matches
Who: The women take on the Wichita State Shocker and the men will
host Evansville
When: Tomorrow, All Day
