Both the men and women’s tennis teams lost a heartbreaking meet against Xavier but won convincingly again Dayton over Easter Break.
The men (7-12) lost to Xavier 6-1 but beat Dayton 6-1. Sophomore Vuk Poledica won the only match for SLU against Xavier after dropping the opening set 6-4, but winning the second set 6-1 and winning the super-tiebreaker to claim the overall victory.
Poledica continued his dominance by winning another singles match (6-3, 3-6, 10-5) against Dayton, and paired up with junior Drew Feder to record a victory (8-2) in doubles play.
“I think doubles played a big part against Dayton,” said Poledica “The [number one] doubles match was quite a thriller but Joe (Flanagan) and Bobby (Kidera) saved a couple of match points and pulled it off. After that we had the momentum, the pressure was on them and we were super confident going into singles.”
“I would contribute our victory to a great week of practice leading up to the match,” added Feder.
Kidera was the third Billiken to win both a singles and doubles match against Dayton, winning in straight sets 6-3, 6-2.
Sophomore Patrick Kella also recorded a victory in the number six singles spot, dropping the first set 3-6, but winning the second 6-4 and the super-tiebreaker 10-7.
The women (11-9) fared slightly better against Xavier, being edged 6-4, but completely dominated Dayton, sweeping them 7-0 and did not lose a set.
Junior Mia Elmore and senior Jenny Nalepa won both of their doubles matches, 8-3 against Xavier and 8-2 against Dayton. Elmore continued her success by dominating Dayton’s Claire McNulty 6-2, 6-4.
“We all were very motivated to beat Dayton this weekend, especially after a 4-3 loss against Xavier the night before,” said Elmore.
Sophomore Madeline Jolly was very impressive against Dayton, not losing a game against Georgia Lammers (6-0, 6-0). These two meets were the last regular season events for the Billikens and served as the final tune up for the Atlantic 10 tournament this weekend.
The number nine seeded men’s team faces off against the No. 8 seeded Fordham Rams on Friday, April 13 at 8:00am with the winning moving on to play No. 1 seeded Charlotte.
This will be the first meeting this season between these two teams, but Feder and Poledica are prepared for the challenge.
“We are preparing the same as any other weekend match, trying to get the most out of every practice to get us ready,” said Feder.
“We are all in good shape, all are healthy and we’re all peaking at the right time,” added Poledica.
The women’s team opponent has not been determined yet, but the Billikens are ready for whichever opponent they face.
“We are practicing extra hard both on the court and in the weight room. We are staying on top of our school work, sleep schedule, and nutrition in order to put us in the best position to win,” said a confident Elmore.
