WEBSTER GROVES - Webster University Women's Tennis remained undefeated in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play here late Wednesday evening as the Gorloks topped Greenville University, 8-1 in action at the Webster Groves Tennis Center.
With the win, Webster moved to 4-0 in SLIAC play and improved its overall record to 8-4 on the season heading into stretch run of the regular season.
The Gorloks were unstoppable in doubles play against the Panthers (4-5, 1-1 SLIAC). Senior
Monica Behrle (Atlanta, Ga./East Paulding) and junior
Madison Watts (Rogersville, Mo./Logan Rogersville) had yet another commanding victory at the No. 1 spot as they won 8-1 over Greenville's Bailey Pearce and Emma Wieland.
Junior
Sara Rice (Mahomet, Ill./Mahomet-Seymour) and freshman
Maggie Federhofer (St. Louis, Mo./Lutheran South) posted an 8-2 win at the No. 2 spot and seniors
Jesse Steffens-Willis (St. Louis, Mo./Rockwood Summit) and
Robin Bolme (Smyrna, Tenn./Blackman) won 8-1 at the No. 3 spot.
"I'm proud of how [Federhofer] and I played doubles," Rice said after her match. "We didn't let up, and we kept taking advantage of opportunities in the point."
In singles, the Gorloks continued to not let up in their aggressiveness as at the No. 1 spot, Behrle closed out 6-0, 6-0 over Pearce. Watts had a quick 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 2 over Wieland. At the No. 3 spot, Steffens-Willis handedly won the first set 6-1 over Courtney Blaser and then both players battled hard in the second set before Steffens-Willis pulled away with a 7-5 win.
"It was a good fight to get that win [in the second set]," Steffens-Willis said following her win.
Rice won her match at the No. 4 spot over Greenville's Christina Bowman, 6-2, 6-2, while Federhofer earned a 6-1, 6-4 victory at the No. 5 spot.
The closest match of the evening was at No. 6 as Bolme won the first set 6-0 over Greenville's Annie Bellinger, but Bellinger was tough in the second as she won 6-3 to set up a third set tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, the two players went back and forth, exchanging points in the fight to be the first to 10. In the end, Bellinger pulled away to win 10-6 in the third for the only Greenville point of the night.
Webster will return to the courts this weekend as they travel to the Chicagoland area for two non-conference matches as they open the trip with a 5 p.m. match on Friday, April 13 in Wheaton, Ill., against Wheaton College and concludes the trip with a 10 a.m. match on Saturday, April 14 in Chicago, Ill., against North Park.
