The Saint Louis University tennis teams celebrated Senior Day on
Saturday in winning fashion against the Wright State University
Raiders. Both the men and women cruised to victory, winning each
match 7-0.

With the win, the men improve to 7-12, on the season. The women
picked up their second win of the season to improve to 2-17.

In the women’s match, the Billikens did not surrender a set to
the Raiders, winning all six singles matches in two straight sets.
Freshman Ana Renda, playing in the No. 3 singles match, put
together the most dominating performance, winning 6-0, 6-1 over
opponent Laura Culberton. Playing in the No. 1 singles position,
fellow freshman Katerina Lozanova rolled to a 6-1, 6-3 victory over
Jessica Lee. The closest match of the day came at the No. 2 singles
position, where freshman Amanda Hellberg outlasted Audra Beckett in
a 7-5, 6-4 battle.

Seniors Melissa Cutler and Rebecca Steer each won their final
home matches in the No. 4 and No. 5 singles matches, respectively.
Cutler, playing at No. 4, defeated Maggie Jacobs 6-3, 6-2, while
Steer, playing at the No. 5 position, came away with a 6-4, 6-3 win
over Jennifer Bagby. Finally, sophomore Lindsay Winninger rolled to
a 6-1, 6-2 win over Carla Haun.

In doubles competition, SLU rolled to victory at the No. 1
position with Hellberg and Renda winning 8-4 in an 8-game pro-set.
In winning the No. 2 match, Cutler and Lozanova had to battle,
prevailing 9-7. In the No. 3 match, Steer and Winninger won easily,
8-1.

The Billikens are next in action as they close out regular
season play against the DePaul University Blue Demons, who are 16-8
and 5-0 in Conference USA matches.

The match will be played Saturday at 10 a.m. on DePaul’s home
courts in downtown Chicago.

The men’s team also won 7-0, but not with as much ease as the
women.

In the No. 1 singles match, junior Ikaika Jobe won the first set
in convincing fashion, 6-1, but needed to go to a tiebreaker to
close out the second set 7-6 over Kevin Teufel. Senior Thomas Kwong
won his final home match at the No. 2 position easily over Brian
Butt 6-0, 6-2.

Junior Tom de Larzac and senior Lance Vodicka both received
early scares, each losing the first set in their respective
matches. De Larzac, playing No. 3 singles, lost the first set 3-6
to Brian Savino, but dominated the second and third sets, winning
both 6-1 to win his match in three sets. Vodicka, competing in his
last home match at the #4 position, lost the first set to Scott
Hayden 2-6 before winning the second and third sets 6-2, 6-3 to
emerge victorious.

At the No. 5 and No. 6 positions, seniors Sanjeev Paramanathan
and Taylor Curran were minimally tested, with Paramanathan winning
at the No. 5 position over Presti Pierangelo 6-0, 6-1. Curran won
his match by default.

The Billikens dominated in the doubles competition, with Jobe
and Paramanathan cruising to an 8-2 victory in the No. 1 doubles
match. Seniors Kwong and Curran teamed up to win at the No. 2
doubles position 8-2. Vodicka and sophomore Andrew Balcer won their
No. 3 doubles match by default.

The Billikens will round out their regular season on the road
near the shores of Lake Michigan as they travel to Milwaukee to
face C-USA foe and fellow Jesuit school Marquette University on
Friday at 4 p.m. The men will then join the women’s team in Chicago
to face the DePaul University Blue Demons on Saturday at 10
a.m.

Marquette is currently 9-9 with a 1-1 C-USA record, while DePaul
is 11-10 with a 0-1 C-USA record.