The University women’s tennis team fell Sunday in a close match to the Eastern Michigan Eagles, 4-3 at the Perrysburg Tennis Center. The entirety of the team played well for head coach Olga Elkin, who noted the play in singles, specifically.
“(The team) all played really well in singles,” Elkin said. “It was nice to see the girls fight until the very end.”
The Falcons did not have the doubles success they were looking to achieve, however. The duo of Drew Fillis and Paula Comella won its doubles match, 6-1 over EMU’s Klara Supejova and Andrea Martinovska, but the combinations of Polina Radeva and Emily Witt, and Leeah Floyd and Antonina Farrar were not able to earn victories over the Eagles. Both duos fell by a score of 6-1.
The team’s success in singles, while just a little too late in this match, shows the Falcons’ improvement from recent contests, where they earned only a combined four singles wins in their previous three matches.
While Witt, Floyd and Farrar fell in their singles contests and the match had already been decided an EMU victory, the next three singles players for BG did not let that affect them. Fillis tallied a hard-earned 6-4, 1-6, 1-0 (10-4) victory over her opponent. Next, Radeva took down the Eagles’ Martinovska, 7-5, 5-7, 1-0 (10-7). To wrap up the match and bring the score to 4-3, Comella defeated her opponent 7-6 (1), 6-7 (3), 1-0 (10-8).
“It was great seeing the girls compete so well,” Elkin said of the team. “We won three close ones in the end, even though the match had already been decided.”
The loss brought the Falcons’ record to 2-15, 0-4 (MAC). Eastern Michigan earned its first conference victory and improved to 4-14, 1-3 (MAC).
Bowling Green will now travel to Oxford, Ohio to take on the Miami RedHawks Friday, April 15.
“This week we will get back to practice and continue to work on our doubles,” Elkin said while emphasizing the team’s desire to earn the doubles point.
Miami is 8-9 overall with posting a 3-1 MAC record. The Falcons will be looking to earn their first conference victory of the year as well as looking to snap Miami’s win streak over BG, which includes 15 victories over 13 years.
The match is set to begin at 1 p.m. The Falcons will then return home for three consecutive dual matches to round out the season.
