Emporia State women’s tennis opened their spring season strong with 6-1 wins against Bethel College on Friday and Seward County Community College in exhibition play on Saturday.
Senior Sheriden Wichman and freshman Victoria Debono opened doubles play strong, clinching the No. 2 doubles spot at 6-3 in play against Bethel and securing the doubles point for the Hornets. No. 1 doubles team of sophomore Yuliya Klimova and freshman Carla Paul Piquer closed second with the same match score to defeat the Threshers. Freshman No. 3 doubles team Erin Cahill and Giulia Russu finished last to take their match 6-2.
Singles play saw the Hornets secure five singles matches to put toward their overall score and an exhibition singles match played by freshman Ana Fatjo Coll, who defeated her opponent 6-1,6-1.
Klimova started off singles play by taking the No. 1 singles spot at 6-1, 6-1. Wichman, Paul Piquer, Cahill and Russu would go on to take their matches in the No. 3, No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 spots in that order. Debono fell in her No. 2 match 5-7, 3-6 which handed a single point over to Bethel in the 6-1 Hornet sweep.
The Hornets saw the same margin of victory in exhibition play on Saturday, where Wichman and Debono secured the doubles point once again for ESU at No. 2 doubles 6-1. Fatjo Coll played at the No. 3 doubles spot with Russu this time around with Klimova and Paul Piquer playing at No. 1. They claimed wins of 6-1 and 6-2 respectively.
In singles, the Hornets rallied in five of six sets to secure 5 more points for ESU. Wichman played to a third set against Seward at No. 2, clinching the match with set scores of 6-4, 4-6, 1-0. Klimova fell at No. 1 6-7, 4-6.
The Hornets are currently 2-0 overall on the season and are set to begin MIAA conference play in March. A regular season Valentine’s Day matchup on Feb. 14 is next for the Hornets. First serve is set for 2 p.m. against McPherson College at the Kossover Family Tennis Center.
