Box Score The Chicago State women's tennis team advanced to the championship match of the 2024 Horizon League Women's Tennis Tournament with a 4-2 victory over Youngstown State Saturday afternoon at the Schwartz Tennis Center in West Lafayette, Indiana. The Cougars advance to Sunday's title match and will take on Cleveland State who beat Northern Kentucky 4-3 earlier in the day.
The Cougars and Vikings shared the Horizon League regular season title with Youngstown State. Cleveland State claimed the No. 1 seed due to tiebreakers between the three teams despite the Cougars 4-3 victory over the Vikings, Cleveland State's lone conference loss, during the regular season.
The Cougars opened the match claiming the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and 2 doubles. The duo of
Manuella Eloundou and
Nia Cooper, playing at the No. 1 position, won in a tiebreak after the Cougars and Vikings split the decisions in the first two matches off the court.
In singles, Chicago State increased the lead to 3-0 with wins at No. 6 (
Helin Alvarez) and No. 4 (
Amina Taibi) before Cleveland State earned their first win, at No. 3. At that point, the Cougars needed just one victory in the three matches still being contested and each of those three were pushed to a third and deciding set, leading 5-4 at No. 1, trailing 4-3 at No. 2 and tied 4-4 at No. 5.
"I'm not sure what to say about the fight these girls had tonight," head coach
Jack Barton said. "This was the grittiest performance of the year by these ladies. Although we lost to them in the regular season, we were very confident coming into this match. We kept our composure and we fought till the last ball was played. I am so happy for these ladies."
Youngstown State secured the victory at No. 5 with a 6-4 third-set win to cut the margin to 3-2 when
Manuella Eloundou moved ahead 6-5 at No. 1 and Katrina Dukic trailed 5-4 at No. 2. Eloundou secured a 7-5 victory leaving Dukic's match unfinished and with the Cougars moving into Sunday's championship match.
Compete results listed below.
Chicago State vs Youngstown State
4/27/2024 at West Lafayette, Indiana
(Schwartz Tennis Center)
Chicago State 4, Youngstown State 2
Singles competition
1.
Manuella Eloundou (CSUW) def. Eliska Masarikova (YSUW) 3-6, 7-5, 7-5
2. Julia Marko (YSUW) vs.
Katarina Dukic (CSUW) 6-1, 3-6, 5-5, unfinished
3. Lorena Cedeno (YSUW) def.
Sofiya Sedovich (CSUW) 7-6 (7-3), 6-3
4.
Amina Taibi (CSUW) def. Elinor Beazley (YSUW) 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
5. Lili Minich (YSUW) def.
Nia Cooper (CSUW) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
6.
Helin Alvarez (CSUW) def. Yesenia Ovcharova (YSUW) 7-5, 6-1
Doubles competition
1.
Manuella Eloundou/
Nia Cooper (CSUW) def. Eliska Masarikova/Maria Oliveira (YSUW) 7-6 (7-4)
2.
Sofiya Sedovich/
Ethel Li (CSUW) def. Lorena Cedeno/Julia Marko (YSUW) 6-4
3. Line Greyling/Elinor Beazley (YSUW) def.
Katarina Dukic/
Amina Taibi (CSUW) 6-4
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (6,4,3,5,1)
About Chicago State Athletics
Chicago State University sponsors 16 Division I intercollegiate athletic teams and competes in the Northeast Conference (effective July 2024) with the exception of men's and women's tennis who will compete in the Horizon League during the 2024-25 season. CSU's athletic program includes over 150 student-athletes that compete in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, indoor and outdoor track, triathlon and volleyball.
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