MISHAWAKA, Ind. ---The Bethel Women's Tennis Team swept the University of Saint Francis Cougars 6-0 on Thursday to conclude the regular season after falling 4-3 to the Indiana Wesleyan Wildcats on Wednesday.
The Pilots set the tone early in doubles play, as
Paola Lameda and Olesya Krot secured a 6-1 win at No. 1, followed by a 6-1 victory from
Kako Uchijo /
Sandy Sharaf at No. 2 to clinch the doubles point.
Bethel carried that momentum into singles, controlling every match. Lameda led the way at No. 1 with a 6-1, 7-5 win, while
Sandy Sharaf delivered a 6-0, 6-1 victory at No. 2.
Olesya Krot dominated at No. 3 with a 6-0, 6-0 result, and
Kako Uchijo added a 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 4.
Mariami Jikhvashvili completed the sweep with a 6-0, 6-2 victory.
"The ladies really came out of the gate hot and didn't let up the whole match," said Head Coach Jamal Henry. "I'm proud of them for that, especially after playing such a tough match the night before and coming up short against IWU."
The Pilots opened Wednesday's matchup by securing the doubles point. The No. 1 pair of
Paola Lameda Morin / Olesya Krot earned a 6-3 victory, while
Kako Uchijo /
Sandy Sharaf followed with a 6-2 win at No. 2 doubles to give Bethel early momentum.
In singles play, Bethel picked up key wins from
Sandy Sharaf at No. 2 (6-2, 6-4) and Olesya Krot at No. 3 (6-3, 4-6, 6-4). However, Indiana Wesleyan responded by winning four singles matches, narrowly securing the 4-3 team victory.
Henry shared, "We battled really hard, all the way to the end...We had huge momentum out of the gate winning the doubles point, and the rest of the match just went back-and-forth, with us coming out on the short end of the stick.
Sandy Sharaf finished another conference season undefeated, which is a huge accomplishment, being asked to play the #2, #3, and #4 positions."
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