The Eastern Washington University's women's tennis team had their home opener against Seattle University today, Feb. 12. Even though the Eagles had some tough battles, they ended up falling to Seattle 5-2.

"It was a tough close match, as it always is against Seattle University," head coach Dustin Hinson said. "The doubles were really close in every match and we had our chances. Losing that point was tough on momentum. I was happy with the team support and energy today. We had a lot of grit and fight."

Freshman Valentina Sottile got a win in a tiebreaker in the No. 6 singles spot against Kailyn Skjonsby. She won her first set 6-4, fell 2-6 in her second set but prevailed in a tiebreaker winning 10-3. The win is her second victory for the freshman.

"Valentina came up big with a nice win at number 6 singles. She displayed the hunger and desire to execute tough shots when she needed to," Hinson added.

In the No. 1 singles spot, sophomore Faye Worrall fell to her opponent, Michelle Lui 6-3, 6-4.  Senior Erin Blessing competed in the No. 2 spot against Madison Maloney and lost her first set, but won her second set. The final set was not completed, but Blessings got the win in the statbook.

Senior Carolina Lopez was in the No. 3 spot and fell 6-2, 6-4 to Barbara Carey. Junior Katrina Domingo was in the No. 4 spot and fell 6-1, 6-4 to Kali McCollister. Freshman Marta Heinen competed against Caroline Maltby in the No. 5 spot and fell 6-2, 6-0.

Sophomore Jennifer Lewis also competed in an exhibition match and won 8-6.

In doubles action all the matches were a battle. Blessing and Worrall teamed up to compete against Maloney and Lui and fell 6-4. Domingo and Sottile were in the No. 2 doubles team and fell in a tiebreaker 7-6 to Carey and Maltby. Heinen and Lopez finished off doubles in the No. 3 spot and fell 7-5 to Skonsby and Audrey Scott.

The next match for Eastern will be on Feb. 18 against Northern Colorado in Cheney, also the Eagles first Big Sky matchup this season. Matches will begin at 10 a.m. in the Jim Thorpe Fieldhouse. Admission is free and open to the public.
 

"Overall we are putting in the work and we have the right mindset...we are just looking for things to turn our way," Hinson said.

Seattle U 5, Eastern Washington 2

Singles competition

1. Lui, Michelle (SU) def. WORRALL, Faye (EWU) 6-3, 6-4

2. BLESSING, Erin (EWU) def. Maloney, Madison (SU) 3-6, 6-4, 1-1 (retired)

3. Carey, Barbara (SU) def. LOPEZ, Carolina (EWU) 6-2, 6-4

4. McCollister, Kali (SU) def. DOMINGO, Katrina (EWU) 6-1, 6-4

5. Maltby, Caroline (SU) def. HEINEN, Marta (EWU) 6-2, 6-0

6. SOTTILE, Valentina (EWU) def. Skjonsby, Kailyn (SU) 6-4, 2-6, 10-3

Doubles competition

1. Maloney, Madison/Lui, Michelle (SU) def. WORRALL, Faye/BLESSING, Erin (EWU) 6-4

2. Carey, Barbara/Maltby, Caroline (SU) def. DOMINGO, Katrina/SOTTILE, Valentina (EWU) 7-6 (4-0)

3. Skjonsby, Kailyn/Scott, Audrey (SU) def. HEINEN, Marta/LOPEZ, Carolina (EWU) 7-5