MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – A heated battle between Toledo and West Virginia came down to the final two singles matches of the day, but in the end the Mountaineers prevailed 4-3 in Morgantown, W. Va. on Friday.
With West Virginia ahead 3-2, the Rockets needed wins at No. 5 and No. 6 singles to win the match. The Rockets settled for a split, however, with West Virginia's Michaela Kucharova's 7-6(3), 6-2 victory over junior
Audrey Moutama on the No. 6 court proving decisive.
"We played some great tennis today and had chances to win for sure so that part is really frustrating," head coach
Tracy Mauntler expressed. "Keeping things in perspective, we are getting better every time we get on the court, and we played much better than we did last week at Michigan State. This is a process, and the goal is to be playing at our best during March and April. I'm confident that's where we're headed."
Toledo took the doubles point with wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 courts and then went ahead 2-1 in the match when senior
Cassie Alcala won the top court in two sets. WVU countered with back-to-back three-set wins from the No. 3 and No. 4 courts to put itself at match point. Senior
Shalini Tallamraju took a 6-4, 6-3 win on the No. 5 court almost immediately after WVU had already clinched the match point at No. 6.
Alcala's wins at No. 1 singles and No. 2 doubles helped her tie Martina Wodzinski (2007-10) for the most career victories at UT with 154 combined singles and doubles victories. Alcala is already Toledo's record holder for 87 singles wins.
Toledo (3-3) will take on two-time CAA champion William & Mary in Morgantown tomorrow at 1:00 p.m.
West Virginia 4, Toledo 3
Singles
1.
Cassie Alcala (TOL) def. Love-Star Alexis (WVU) 6-0, 6-4
2. Maya Bordereau (WVU) def.
Gaby Rondon (TOL) 6-3, 6-1
3. Momoko Nagato (WVU) def.
Sanjana Tallamraju (TOL) 5-7, 6-2, 7-5
4. Maja Dodik (WVU) def.
Sloane Teske (TOL) vs. 6-4, 3-6, 7-5
5.
Shalini Tallamraju (TOL) def. Ting-Pei Chang (WVU) 6-4, 6-3
6. Michaela Kucharova (WVU) def.
Audrey Moutama (TOL) 7-6(3), 6-2
Doubles
1.
Julia Kuszynski/
Sanjana Tallamraju (TOL) vs. Michaela Kucharova/ Momoko Nagato (WVU) 4-4, unfinished
2.
Cassie Alcala/
Gaby Rondon (TOL) vs. Maja Dodik/ Maya Bordereau (WVU) 6-3
3.
Audrey Moutama/
Sloane Teske (TOL) def. Ting-Pei Chang/ Love-Star Alexis (WVU) 6-3
