EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE tennis continued its best start since the 2016-17 season with a 7-0 home victory over Western Illinois on Sunday morning, as the Cougars improve to 4-0 on the season.
How It Happened
Doubles
- As has become the norm this season, the Cougars commanded their opponents in doubles play. SIUE began the contest with a win by default in No. 3 doubles and needed just one doubles win to secure the opening point.
- That clinch happened on the No. 1 doubles court, when the pair of Jill Lambrechts and Maria Thibault earned a 6-1 win to improve to 2-1 in match play.
- The Cougars swept doubles play with a 6-4 win in No. 2 doubles, as Jordan Schifano and Vanessa Reinicke remain unbeaten as a team this season.
Singles
- Following a default win for Maria Thibault in the No. 6 position, the Cougars began singles play with a 2-0 advantage on the match score.
- Schifano once again proved too much for her opponent to handle, notching a 6-0, 6-1 win on the No. 1 court to improve to 3-1 in singles match play and 7-3 in singles play this year.
- Moments later, Lambrechts clinched the match victory with a 6-1, 6-0 win on the No. 2 court. Lambrechts also improves to 3-1 in singles match play and sits at 8-2 overall.
- Fabiola Perez continues to command her competition, moving to the No. 3 court and notching a 6-3, 6-2 win. Perez has not dropped a match in singles play and holds an impressive 8-1 mark overall.
- In between those two matches, Caitlyn Sporing also remained unbeaten in singles play with a 6-1, 6-0 win on the No. 5 court. Sporing is 2-0 in singles match play and 5-1 overall on the year.
- In her return to action, Nicole Gomez earned a 6-4, 6-4 match win to complete the 7-0 team sweep over the Leathernecks.
News & Notes
- Sunday's win marks the Cougars' second-consecutive shutout win for the Cougars.
- SIUE has not dropped a home opener in the Adam Albertsen era, as the Red & White improve to 4-0 in home openers since Albertsen took the helm.
- SIUE now leads the all-time series over Western Illinois by an 8-3 margin. The Cougars now own three consecutive shutout wins over the Leathernecks and have registered five shutouts victories all-time against WIU.
Coach's Corner
"It was great to see the doubles - once again, we got the doubles point in all four matches. That's something we've come light years ahead of where we've been in past seasons. That's starting to become a strength for us and you can see it pay off again today."
"You can play matches in practice, you can compete like that, but then when you finally play a different team, it's always a little step up. Seeing her [Nicole Gomez] not only compete, play a full match, but win - just so happy for her."
"You're seeing a lot of confidence from a lot of different spots on our team. Jill and Jordan are anchoring the top right now, down the line - Vanessa, Fabi, they're all playing well. And seeing our depth where we can mix and match - Nicole returns today, Caitlyn being able to step in, it just shows the depth and I'm excited to see where it's going."
"It was awesome. First home match - seeing all the fans and all the support we had today. I can't thank them enough, I know our team loves playing in front of a home crowd and seeing the support from our campus, our community, and the whole tennis area - it's awesome, we hope to see that next Friday again. But I'm so thankful for everybody that came out and it makes us play at a whole new level and I think that's something we want to keep building off of."
Up Next
The Cougars (4-0) will continue their three-match homestand with a Friday afternoon fixture against William Woods University. First serve from the Edwardsville Y Meyer Center is scheduled for 2 p.m. and live stats will be available.
