The Chicago State women's tennis team traveled to the heartland in Iowa last weekend as it headed to Drake University in Des Moines for a span of three matches in two days. The Cougars opened their slate Saturday afternoon against former Summit League foe UMKC and fell short in a 6-1 loss before dropping a 7-0 decision to the host Lady Bulldogs.
"I was pretty disappointed in our match against UMKC. We lost exactly the same way we lost to Eastern Illinois the weekend before, said CSU head coach Jack Barton. “We win at No. 2 doubles and lost in a very close match at No. 1 doubles. We played not to lose instead of playing to win and we got exactly the same result. It seemed like Deja Vu."
The lone win in the UMKC match came at No. 3 singles when sophomore Karyn Emeralda (Jakarta, Indonesia/) captured an easy 6-0, 6-0 victory over Susan Lisenby.
The next day, the Cougars face off against Northern Iowa, where they lost 5-2, but performed better by gaining a doubles win from Tejoprayitno Twins, Rosalia and Rosalina, and singles wins from Emeralda and junior Ruta Grinvalde (Cesis, Latvia/).
"Karyn has shown tremendous leadership by playing big in these matches." Barton stated. "I'm glad the twins won their doubles. They have been a bit discouraged after having a great fall, but I can see them rebounding now and I can say enough about Ruta's effort to play better and work harder each match."
After winning the first set against UNI's Jessica Kunzelman by a score of 6-3, Emeralda battled back from an early 3-0 deficit in the second set by regrouping in comback fashion to claim a 7-6 (5) win.
The Cougars travel to Ft. Wayne, Indiana this Saturday to take on Wright State at 1 p.m., and Detroit at 6 p.m.
