| Junior Holly Phillips won her 11th consecutive singles match on Wednesday. |
SAN ANTONIO ? The UTSA women’s tennis team stretched its winning streak to seven matches with a 7-0 win over Western Illinois on Wednesday at the UTSA Tennis Center.
The Roadrunners improved their overall record to 11-4, including a 7-2 mark at home. The Westerwinds slipped to 3-7 on the season.
The Runners started the match by grabbing the doubles point in a sweep. Senior Monika Drabkova and sophomore Caroline Dedering finished first at the No. 2 spot with an 8-3 win over Stephanie Baumer and Yana Meinert. Amanda Griffin and Zi Wang were next to suffer a loss for WIU, falling at the No. 1 spot, 8-4, to the senior-freshman team of Karen Scida and Micaela Silva. Senior Nathalie Wallin and junior Holly Phillips advanced their doubles winning streak to six with an 8-4 victory over Kim Lennartsson and Kate Kennedy at No. 3.
The singles portion of Wednesday’s match served as an exhibition of the Runners’ talent. UTSA had five straight-set victories, of which the Westerwinds were only able to collect no more than three points in any match.
Three Roadrunners extended winning streaks to six or more. Wallin expanded her winning streak to 14 matches by defeating Wang, 6-3, 6-0, at No. 2, while Phillips collected her 11th consecutive singles win by blanking Baumer in straight sets at the No. 3 spot. The No. 1 battle was in full swing as Griffin won the first set, 6-3, and Scida collected the second, 6-2. Scida ultimately succeeded with a 10-6 decision in the tiebreaker to push her streak to seven victories.
The whitewashing continued with another 6-0 straight-set victory from Dedering over Kennedy and Silva got back on the winning track by outplaying Meinert in a pair of 6-2 sets. Freshman Katie Ottenbreit followed suit with a win over Courtney Brooks, 6-0, 6-0 at No. 6.
UTSA has a lengthy break before returning to Southland Conference play as they travel to Beaumont next Saturday, March 28, to face Lamar and then to Lake Charles, La., on the following day to compete against McNeese State.