ROMEOVILLE Ill. - Head Tennis Coach
Malik Tabet would get more than cake on his birthday this year, with the UIndy women's tennis team claiming their 12th
GLVC Championship with a 4-0 win over the West Division's No. 1 seed and No. 13-ranked Southwest Baptist Bearcats. It was all smiles as the Greyhounds captured their second consectuve conference title without dropping a team point.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Greyhounds showed ferocity in the final of the conference tournament, and they started with a sweep of doubles play. GLVC Freshman of the Year
Sofia Sharonova and
Maria Solnyshkina started the Hounds off, taking their match 6-1. And then the No. 1 doubles pair in all of Division II women's tennis,
Nikol Alekseeva and
Anna Novikova, rose to the occasion, downing the No. 19 pair in the country, SBU's Dona Ahohabaga and Constanca Crespo, by a final of 7-5.
Alina Kislitskaya and
Kristina Lagoda did not finish their match.
Just like it has been all season, the Hounds pushed the pace in singles resulting in all three matches going in favor of the Hounds, all in straight sets. Lagoda, the No. 42 singles player in the country, struck first, only dropping three games across two sets to win 6-2, 6-1. The reigning GLVC Player of the Year and No. 1 singles player in the country, Alekseeva would face off with Ahohabage in the No. 1 singles spot in a one-sided affair; Alekseeva dropped two games in the first set before bringing the hammer down in set two winning 6-0.
And with only one more match to win it, No. 8 singles player in the country and All-GLVC honoree, Novikova, faced off with SBU's best singles player, No. 28 Diana Cabrera. But that rank would not shake the Ukraine product, as she downed Cabrera in just two sets, 6-2, 6-4 to have the Hounds raise the trophy overhead. Kislitskaya, Solnyshkina and Sharonova did not finish their matches.
UP NEXT
The Hounds look to continue their playoff journey in search of more hardware to bring back to Indianapolis, as they await word on the 2021 NCAA DII Midwest Regional field, set to be released Tuesday, May 4. The regional is slated for May 8-9 in Midland, Mich.
