MT comes from behind in win over WKU

Sunday, March 25

Murfreesboro, Tenn. - Adams Tennis Complex

1 PM

Middle Tennessee

Western Kentucky

3/25/2018 5:51:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Blue Raiders came back from down 0-3

By: @MTAthletics

MT vs. WKU results
Season Statistics

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Just like in the first round of the Conference USA Championship two years ago, Middle Tennessee's women's tennis team won over Western Kentucky after dropping the first three points in the match.

"Halfway through that thing it didn't look like we had much of a chance at all," MT head coach Charlie Ramsay said after the 4-3 win. "Last year they came in here and got us really good, so for us to step up today was really special."

The Hilltoppers started the scoring with tight wins on doubles courts one and two. Maria Josefina Zehnder and Costanza Magazzini cruised to a 6-2 victory on court three, but WKU won, 6-4, at No. 1 and clinched the doubles point with a score of 7-6 (9-7) at No. 2.

In singles, WKU kept their momentum going with a 6-0, 6-2 triumph at No. 2 followed by a 6-0, 6-1 victory on court one. Nearly an entire hour passed between the completion of those two matches and the next court to finish.

Kim Kermet put the Blue Raiders on the board after the long period of time that the scoreboard stayed the same. The junior took a win on court three by a score of 7-5, 0-6, 6-3 for MT's first point in the match. Zani Barnard followed at No. 4 with a score of 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, and Lee Barnard finished at No. 6, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-2 to tie the match.

"We have places in the lineup where I feel like we're going to win," Ramsay added. "We played from start to finish today. We played more of a complete match. We showed up today, and we looked like we enjoyed what we were doing."

On court five, Lidia Burrows dropped her first set by a narrow margin, 4-6, despite her opponent getting a big lead early in the match. In the second set, Burrows fell to 2-5 in the tiebreaker, leaving WKU two points away from clinching the win. She reeled off five straight points to take the second set, 7-6 (7-5). With all eyes on her court, Burrows won the third set, 6-3, to complete the 4-3 comeback win over WKU.

"Hopefully she can take some confidence from this win," Ramsay said of Burrows' win. "That girl beat her in the fall; she's a really good player. Lidia needs to feel like she belongs with those good players."

MT concludes the regular season with five more matches at the Adams Tennis Complex, starting with a showdown against Alabama A&M on March 31 at 2 p.m.