On Saturday at the Eddie Weber Tennis Complex, the Bellarmine University women’s tennis team put the final touch on tying the best Great Lakes Valley Conference regular-season finish in program history with a 9-0 sweep of McKendree.
At 18-4, Bellarmine extended its record for most overall wins in program history. The romp over the Bearcats (6-13, 1-5) gave the Knights a 5-1 mark in the GLVC and a second-place East division finish behind Indianapolis (6-0). Bellarmine also placed second in 2007.
The Knights finished third in the East the previous four years, but three-straight victories – all over East rivals – to close the regular season ensured a step up the divisional ladder.
On Saturday, seven different players accounted for the sweep of McKendree. Pocketing two wins apiece were sophomore Maggie Walroth (No. 1 singles/No. 1 doubles), freshmen Jennifer Skonieczny (No. 2 singles/No. 2 doubles) and Ashley Jonathan (No. 3 singles/No. 1 doubles), senior Sydney Thompson (No. 5 singles/No. 2 doubles) and junior Mairin Cotter (No. 6 singles/No. 3 doubles). Juniors Marissa Kovach (No. 4 singles) and Bess Fley (No. 3 doubles) notched one win each.
Bellarmine won the three doubles matches by a combined score of 24-6 and won all six singles contests in straight sets, dropping more than two games just once.
Bellarmine, the No. 2 seed in the East, will meet Missouri-St. Louis, the West’s No. 3 seed, in the GLVC Tournament quarterfinals at 10 a.m. (ET) Friday in St. Louis.
On the men’s side Saturday, Bellarmine (7-15, 2-5) was defeated 1-8 by McKendree (11-9, 3-3) to close out its season. The No. 3 doubles team of senior Alex Swords and sophomore L.J. Allara earned an 8-3 victory.
Seniors Zachary Kuo and Jose Legarreta finished Nos. 2 and 3 on the program’s all-time wins list. The pair holds the record for doubles victories as a team with 46, 17 more than No. 2.
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by Adam Pruiett
