EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Illinois State handed SIUE women's tennis its first loss of the season Friday, besting the Cougars 4-3 at the Edwardsville Y Meyer Center.

"What a great college tennis match. What a battle," said SIUE Head Coach Adam Albertsen. "That was one of the most impressive showings for this team."

The Redbirds improved to 6-3 while SIUE dropped to 5-1.

"To fight back against a team that won the regular season in the Missouri Valley Conference last season, they are a really good team," said Albertsen. "We just did not give up. I'm so proud of our team and fight."

Illinois State took the doubles point early and the first singles point.

SIUE fought back with singles wins from Jill Lambrechts at No. 1 singles, Stefaniya Anikina at No. 5 singles and Fabiola Perez at No. 6 singles.

Perez's win at No. 6 singles over Sofia Rodrigo (6-3, 6-2) tied the match at 3-3. That left No. 4 singles where a 2-hour plus matchup between ISU's Silvia Pomarolli and SIUE's Amelia Gorman ended with Pomarolli topping Gorman 4-6, 6-4, 7-6.