WKU Tennis continued its 2022 season, losing two tough matches against the Butler Bulldogs 4-3 and the University of Illinois at Chicago Flames 4-2 over a weekend stretch. The Lady Toppers move to 13-8 on the season. 

Butler Bulldogs

The Lady Toppers fell to the Butler Bulldogs Friday morning by a score of 4-3. 

WKU earned the early lead after winning the doubles point. The No. 1 duo of redshirt senior Cora-Lynn von Dungern and redshirt sophomore Paola Cortez won their ninth match in a row, 6-1, and improved to 14-1 in 2022. The No. 3 pair of sophomore Samantha Martinez and freshman Sofia Blanco clinched the doubles point for the team, winning their match 6-3. 

The Lady Toppers went into singles play up 1-0 but dropped four of the six singles matches. 

At the No. 4 spot, freshman Rachel Hermanova won in straight sets 6-2, 6-3. Following the Hermanova win, the Bulldogs won four consecutive matches at the No. 1, No. 3, No. 2 and No. 5 spots to take the lead and clinch the match, 4-2. 

With the match already won by the Bulldogs, the final match played out. Blanco secured another point for the Lady Toppers, winning 6-0, 6-0. 

“It was a tough college tennis match,” WKU head coach Greg Davis said in a press release. “Butler really deserves a great deal of credit for how they played today. We got the doubles point, and we just were not able to sustain in singles when the match got close.”

Illinois-Chicago Flames

On Saturday morning, the Lady Toppers fell to the Chicago Flames by a score of 4-2. 

For the first time since UAB on March 14, the Lady Toppers lost the doubles point. The Flames won the first two matches on Court 1 and Court 2 6-4, 6-3. The last doubles match on Court 3 went unfinished. 

WKU tied the match in singles play with redshirt sophomore Alexis Cramer, winning by default.Martinez gave WKU the lead with a 6-0, 6-3 before her opponent retired to injury. Illinois-Chicago went on to win the next matches, giving it the dual match win. 

“We played a really good match today,” Davis said in a press release. “I can see why UIC plays in the NCAA tournament every year. They are a very deep and talented team. I thought we did everything we could to get back in the match. I was very proud of the freshmen and how they competed.”

Next weekend, WKU Tennis will continue its season on the road against Dayton. The match will begin at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday. 

Sports Reporter Izzy Lanuza can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @izzylanuza.