The women’s tennis team won twice against Bradley and Davidson to rise to 12-7 on the year.
The Bills traveled to Peoria, Ill. to face Bradley on March 25. They started on the back foot by dropping the doubles point, but made up for lost ground in tough singles play. Sophomore Ally McKenzie put away her match easily at the number four spot, 6-2, 6-2. Her sister, freshman Cassie McKenzie, followed suit with a 6-3, 6-4 victory at the number five place. Senior Eleonore Tchakarova was forced to default her singles match at the second singles spot, but wins from freshman Ariana Rodriguez and senior Aspen Cervin were enough to run away with the 5-2 victory.
SLU brought their momentum into their match against the Davidson Wildcats on March 26, winning 5-2. The two teams of sisters helped the Billikens earn the doubles point. Eleonore and senior Verginie Tchakarova won, 7-5, and the McKenzie sisters also won 7-5.
Singles play was much tighter against the Wildcats. Ally McKenzie pulled off a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 win at the third spot. Cassie McKenzie and Rodriguez both fell short in their three-set matches, but the top three Billikens assisted their teammates by winning in straight sets. Cervin defeated her opponent, 6-4, 6-3, Eleonore Tchakarova was the victor in a brutal 7-6, 7-6 battle and Verginie Tchakarova earned a 6-2, 6-2 win to add to SLU’s success.
Verginie Tchakarova was named A-10 Conference women’s tennis Player of the Week after she went undefeated in matches against Southern Illinois, Bradley and Davidson. She also succeeded in all her doubles matches with partner and sister Eleonore. Verginie leads the team in total singles victories (25-6), dual-match singles victories (14-4), total doubles victories (23-6) and dual-match doubles victories (14-3). Also, she’s won eight singles matches and 11 doubles matches in a row.
The women only have two more matches before the A-10 Conference championship. They will host their last match on April 13 against William Woods University at 2 p.m. The women will then travel to Kansas City, Mo. to face UMKC on April 21 at 2 p.m. Finally, the A-10 Conference championship will take place in Orlando, Fla. on April 27-30.
