Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina women's tennis fell at home for the first time since April of 2023 as the Kennesaw State Owls came away with the 6-1 decision on Friday afternoon on the courts at the Catamount Athletics Complex.
The Catamounts were unable to earn the early doubles point, though the pairing of Jade Groen and Andrea Redondo was on its way to another home doubles match victory. The WCU duo held a 5-4 edge over their Owl counterparts when doubles play halted after the point had been decided.
On the singles court, the Catamounts picked up their first victory in the last three outings as Isabella Sambola capitalized on a set one win to overcome a set two loss on the way to claiming a 10-point tiebreaker victory in the No. 2 spot. Jade Groen nearly added to her team-leading total of eight singles victories, forcing a tiebreaker after dropping the opening set but eventually fell in a tiebreaker to KSU's Ema Barianakova. Angela Perez fought to a 6-6 tie in her first set with KSU's Sofia Madrid, but the visitor would claim the victory in a 9-7 tiebreak.
The Purple and Gold will now look to start the conference slate 1-0 as they head to Johnson City, Tenn., to take on ETSU in the Southern Conference opener.
Doubles
No. 1 – Ema Baraniakova / Taylor Dean (KSU) def. Isabella Sambola/Angela Perez (WCU) 6-4
No.2 – Izabelle Persson / Sofia Madrid (KSU) def. Madison Schwarz/ Dasha Osadova (WCU) 6-1
No. 3 – Andrea Redondo/Jade Groen (WCU) vs. Sofia Unger / Ivan Gresova (KSU) 5-4, Match Unfinished
Order of Finish: 2, 1
Singles
No. 1 Ema Bariankova (KSU) def. Jade Groen (WCU) 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-8)
No. 2 Isabella Sambola (WCU) def. Taylor Dean (KSU) 6-4, 1-6, 1-0 (10-5)
No. 3 Sofia Madrid (KSU) def. Angela Perez (WCU) 7-6 (9-7), 6-3
No. 4 Sofia Unger (KSU) def. Madison Schwarz (WCU) 6-0, 6-2
No. 5 Izabelle Persson (KSU) def. Andrea Redondo (WCU) 6-4, 6-1
No. 6 Laura Nadaska (KSU) def. Dasha Osadova (WCU) 6-3, 6-0
Order of Finish: 6, 5, 4, 2, 1, 3
For the latest information on Catamount women's tennis, follow @catamounts or @catamountTennis on Twitter or go to www.catamountsports.com. In-match updates are on the Catamount women's tennis official tennis Twitter page.
