Women's Tennis Defeats Wisconsin-Eau Claire

Women's Tennis Defeats Wisconsin-Eau Claire

GEORGETOWN, Texas – The Southwestern University Pirates women's tennis team overcame an injury with gutty performances to defeat the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire 7-2.

Esther Bowers and Cecile Wilde defeated Natalie Wijesinghe and Emily Cooper 8-4 in the No. 1 spot but Alexa Brooks and Lindsey Henderson were victorious over Stephanie Bartusov and Nina Elez in the No. 3 match. Mary Cardone and Mariana Quetzeri gave the Pirates the edge in the No. 2 spot, however, winning 8-2 with Quetzeri battling through injury to get the Pirates a point.

"Mariana put her body on the line again after being pretty banged up all week," Head Coach Billy Porter said. "She got us a crucial doubles point and gave us what she had left for singles, which we are all very grateful for."

Quetzeri was unable to finish her match in the No. 3 spot, trailing 4-1 before pulling out of the match, but her teammates picked her up.

Cardone started slot but rallied to defeat Wijesinghe in straight sets 6-4, 6-0 and Bowers got by Cooper 6-2, 6-1.

"Mary came out sluggish and then turned it on big time to get the key first set and then match," Porter said. "It was great to see her body language take a turn for the better and she saw her game go up with it."

Elez shook off the doubles loss in the third spot to defeat Hanna Zevenbergen in straight sets (6-4, 6-1) and Cecile Wilde and Meeshti Shethia gave the Pirates wins in the fifth and sixth spots.

"We lost a really tough one at #3 Doubles being up 5-2," Porter said. "Nina was upset and played down to it but was able to work through it in singles and play much better the longer the match went on, which is great for her growth."

With the win, the Pirates improve to 12-1 on the season. Southwestern will travel to San Antonio on Friday, March 29 to play Trinity at 4:00 p.m.