MOBILE, Ala. - No. 17 Indiana Wesleyan women's tennis shutout No. 16 William Woods 4-0 to move on to the second round of the NAIA National Championships today. The day started with a 1.5 hour rain delay and the men's match on the courts the Wildcats were supposed to play on went to a 4-3 nail biter. IWU started two hours late, but couldn't be stopped once they got started. Brean Barger and
Maria Way (#2 doubles) dominated from the get go to give the Wildcats their first win in doubles with a 6-2 win.
France Antezana and
Sofia Munoz (#1 doubles) followed moments later with another dominating performance, winning 6-2.
Katie Parr and
Ellie Snider (#3 doubles) were up 5-3 when the match was stopped.
Up 1-0 after the doubles, the Wildcats knew they needed to get ahead early to beat the Owls. IWU won five of the six first sets of the singles matches to set the tone early. Antezana came back from 4-1 down and won five-straight games to build huge momentum for the women. Munoz beat another nationally ranked player at No. 1 singles in straight sets to get the first singles point. Way followed a close first set with a 6-2 win in the second set to clinch her match at #5 singles. It then became a race between Ellie and France who could clinch the match for the Wildcats. Both players had a match clinching point and Ellie finished moments ahead to clinch the 4-0 win.
To view the full match results, click
HERE.
- Match Score: IWU def. WWU, 4-0
- Records: IWU 24-4 | WWU 11-7
- Location: Mobile, Ala. | Mobile Tennis Center
- NAIA Top 25 Ranking: IWU - #17 | WWU - #16
- "First off what a day," said James Gleghorn, Head Tennis Coach. "We knew we were in a rain delay, so after eating breakfast together, Ali got her guitar and lead 45 minutes of praise and worship. Just spending time worshiping the Lord together set our hearts and minds right to play today. On the court, the women played phenomenally! Bre and Maria were so dominant in doubles. Sofia is just amazing. Her play is undaunted in singles. France showed incredible leadership in fighting back from 4-1 down, and I am so proud of her. Katie played her best match of the year and did it at such a crucial time. Maria, as she has done all year, played to her potential and dominated. Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Ellie. She won the Champion of Character award for our team at the NAIA banquet and turned around and clinched the match for us today with a humble spirit that belied the award."
- IWU advance to the second round to play No. 2 Keiser tomorrow at 1:00 PM ET.
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