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The Middle Tennessee Blue Raider Women’s tennis team lost two of their three matches this weekend, falling to Illinois on Friday and Tulsa today.
In the match-up against the Fighting Illini, Middle Tennessee fell behind right out of the gate by losing the No.1 and No.3 doubles matches. MT’s Luisa Zirilli and Holly Horsefall fought hard against Madie Baillon and Jaclyn Switkes of Illinois but the match ultimately ended unfinished with Middle trailing 4-3.
With a 2-0 lead, Illinois proceeded to win five of the six singles matches to close down the match in the Illini’s favor by a score of 6-1.
Lidia Burrows notched the only victory for MT, as she defeated Ines Vias by a score of 6-2, 7-6 (7-3). While they fell in the other matches, Middle Tennessee put up a fight as Zirilli, Maria Josefina Zehnder and Marta Peris Herrero each pushed their matches to three sets before falling.
The Blue Raiders next match pitted them against Sam Houston University on Sunday morning. After losing the No.1 doubles match, the Raiders came out with more energy as Horsefall and Zirilli took the No.2 match by a score of 6-2. Burrows and Costanza Magazzini clinched the doubles point for the Blue Raiders by dominating the No.3 doubles match 6-1.
Middle Tennessee dominated in the singles aspect by winning five of the six matches, highlighted by Sarah Sediri’s performance in the closeout match as she won in straight sets 6-3, 7-5 to give the Blue Raiders a 6-1 win.
The weekend ended with the Blue Raiders traveling to Tulsa in a match-up with the Golden Hurricanes. Much like the match with Illinois, Middle struggled in the doubles portion and lost the first two matches. Burrows and Magazzini were the lone bright spots on the day as they won their match 6-0.
Burrows also took the victory in her singles match as she defeated Martina Okalova in the match-tiebreaker by a score of 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8).
Magazzini also fought hard in her match by taking it to three sets before she ultimately lost in the tiebreaker, 2-6, 6-3, 1-0 (12-10). The Golden Hurricanes took straight set victories in each of the other four sets and won the match 6-1.
Middle Tennessee will hit the practice courts over the next few days before they travel to Florida for matches against the Florida Atlantic Owls and the Florida International Panthers. The Blue Raiders will take on the Owls on Friday at 10 a.m. and the Panthers on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Follow MTSU Women’s Tennis beat writers Tyler Lamb (@Tlamb35) and Rusty Ellis (@RustyEllis13) on Twitter for more coverage.
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To contact Sports Editor Tyler Lamb (@Tlamb35), email sports@mtsusidelines.com.
