CHICAGO - Chicago State women's tennis found itself battling in two competitive matches in Ft. Wayne, Ind. on Feb. 25, but fell short in both matches losing 5-2 to Wright State and 4-3 against the Detroit.
In the first match, CSU came away with the doubles point and needed three wins in singles to win the match, but Wright State had other plans. At No. 1 singles, senior Juan Rosalia Tejoprayitno (Mojokerto, East Java, Indonesia/Taruna Nusa Harapan) went up 3-0 on the Raiders' Kayla Tuscany in the first set before losing the next six games to lose the set. Rosalia made a strong comeback after being down 5-3 in the second set, but fell by a score of 7-6.
The highlight of the match was when sophomore Karyn Emeralda (Jakarta, Indonesia/) posted a win over WSU's Masha Peresetsky via scores of 6-4, 5-7 and 7-5 at No. 2 singles, however, the victory came with a price. Emeralda injured her back during the win which caused her to sit out the next match against Detroit.
In the second match against a roster-shortened Detroit squad, the Cougars picked up the doubles point with a win by the Tejoprayitno sisters at No. 1 doubles and a forfeit by the Titans at No. 3 doubles.
In singles completion, the deciding match came down to Juan Rosalina Tejoprayitno (Mojokerto, East Java, Indonesia/Taruna Nusa Harapan) at No. 1 singles. After splitting the first two sets with the Titans' Raina Halabi, Halabi took a commanding 5-0 lead into the third set. Rosalina made an amazing charge and fought off three match points to bring the match to 5-4. The comeback fell short with Halabi serving for the match for the third time in the set and came out with a 6-4 victory to clinch the win.
Juan Rosalia Tejoprayitno (Mojokerto, East Java, Indonesia/Taruna Nusa Harapan) picked up a victory at No. 3 singles over Amanda Corwell, 6-2, 6-3, and freshman Mia Townsell (Gardnerville, Nev./Douglas) recorded a default win at No. 6 singles with Detroit's shortened line up. Emeralda made an effort to play at No. 2 singles but her injury was too much to overcome and defaulted the match after just one game
"I feel like Emeralda not being in the lineup against Detroit was the key factor to us not coming out with the victory. However, we were very capable with picking up a win in other places at singles but we did not come through against Detroit and Wright State earlier, said CSU head coach Jack Barton. “We haven't had a lot of luck this season like in seasons past with getting three or four singles victories to win matches without having the depth in our lineup. I think teams know we are mentally strong to pick up wins and they are coming out not taking us for granted this year and having success.
The Cougars next match is this Saturday against IUPUI in Indianapolis, Ind. at 5 p.m.
“IUPUI is a team that we have had success against in the past, but I can assure you that this season will be different,” Barton added. “They have a short memory and they will be ready for us on Saturday. So we will be focused and ready to play.”
~CSU~
