By: Timothy Bowens
Box Score Bowling Green, KY – The third-seeded Cumberlands women's tennis team dropped a tightly contested match to second-seeded Bethel 4-3 in the MSC Semifinals on Friday.
The Wildcats opened the day taking two of the three doubles matches to gain the early 1-0 advantage.
Marina Nagai and
Blanca Lopez captured the lone doubles win for the Pats, defeating Sofia Canto and Marina Zotelli 6-2 at the #3 spot.
Nagai continued her successful day with a dominant win at #2 singles. The sophomore blanked Cloe Casado 6-0, 6-0 to even the score at one.
Liu YuFang followed that up with another solid singles win in straight sets. YuFang earned a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Sofija Rajic to put UC in front for the first time.
Lopez picked up the next win, earning a dominant victory at the #5 spot. The freshman defeated Marina Zotelli 6-0, 6-3 to give the Patriots a 3-1 advantage.
The Wildcats responded with back-to-back singles wins to tie the score once again.
With the score knotted at three, it would all come down to UC's
Jirachavala Puckaporn and Bethel's Martina Coghetto at the #6 spot to determine which team moved on to the championship match.
Puckaporn won the first set 6-3, but Coghetto responded with a 6-4 win in set two to even things up. Coghetto ultimately pulled away in the third set (6-3) to give the Wildcats the 4-3 victory.
#23 UC now sits at 13-9 overall and awaits its fate for the NAIA National Tournament.
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