KNOXVILLE, Tn- The Royals Women's tennis team traveled to Owensboro, Kentucky to take on Brescia University and Kentucky Wesleyan College this past weekend. The Royals needed a come from behind win to defeat Brescia 4-3 on Friday while jumping out to a decisive 5-2 victory on Saturday.
The Royals matchup against Brescia began with the Royals picking up the doubles point. The number 1 tandem of Paola Testa and Lauren Murray rolled to a decisive 6-0 victory. After dropping the 2nd doubles line, the Royals took the point with a 6-2 win by Brooke Hilemon and Katelyn Lee. Singles would continue to be a battle as the Royals would drop matches on court 2 and court 4 to find themselves down 2-1. The Royals would even the match with a win by Paola Testa at the number 1 spot by a score of 6-0, 6-1. The Royals would then take the lead again as Brooke Hilemon would post a 6-4, 6-4 win at the number 3 spot. The Royals would drop court 6 as the Bearcats of Brescia would even the match at 3-3. Down to the final court, all eyes were on freshman Cait Bowiling. Bowling's match was a back and forth battle as she was able to take the first set only to drop the second. Playing a 10 point tiebreak for the entire match, Bowling amped up the aggression and got to the net to take matters into her own hands. With match points, Bowling would put away a crisp volley at the net to give the Royals the 4-3 win.
Back at it early the next morning, the Royals got out to an early lead against Kentucky Wesleyan by sweeping the doubles point. Testa and Murray would continue their dominance winning 6-1 while Iris Loveday and Cait Bowling would clinch the point at the number 2 spot with a 6-4 win. Hilemon and Lee would complete the doubles point sweep winning their match 7-5. Unlike the previous day, the Royals would carry their lead into singles only dropping matches at the 3 and 6 positions. Testa and Hilemon would cruise to victories while Lauren Murray was able to put away her opponent at the 2 spot. The hero from the previous night, Cait Bowling, would continue her winning streak making it 4 singles matches in a row. The Royals would defeat the panthers by a final score of 5-2.
Coach Hale was obviously happy after the pair of wins saying, "Overall, I am really proud of how hard we played and competed this weekend. Friday night was great. Having a freshman come through under the lights with her teammates cheering her on for the whole match, it was really exciting. Cait played great but she was only able to be there due to the team effort of everyone else. Saturday was a match that we could have come out sloppy from the night before but we really competed efficiently and effectively. I'm really excited about where we are at this point in the season!"
The Royals continue their fall schedule this Wednesday at Maryville College.