GREENVILLE, IL – The Principia Women's Tennis team traveled to Greenville University on Monday for their second conference match of the spring. After many intense battles, Principia was able to come away with an impressive 7-2 victory against a strong opponent. In last season's conference championship, Greenville won the battle of the Panthers, but with three new members of Principia's starting lineup this year, the visitors showed their strength and gained confidence leading into the 2023 tournament.
Principia began the afternoon by winning the top two doubles matches with a comeback win at #1 doubles. Top pair, Bissola Lassissi and Veronica Volkart, were down 4-1 with two breaks against them when they shifted gears and won the next 7 of 8 games for a 8-5 win. The duo adjusted to the wind and used it to their advantage with steady play and accurate placement.
In singles, the matches were intense as Greenville took an initial advantage. Principia fell behind early in the first set at #2, #4, #5, and #6 singles. Lassissi played an excellent match at #1 with accurate placement and steady play. She won a tough match which was much closer than the scoreline shows. Kelsie Huss was consistent with her game at #3 singles and gave up only one game in the match. With those two singles wins, the visitors went up 4-1 in the match but needed another to close.
At #4 singles, Volkart came back in the first to take the set 7-5. She then closed out the second set 6-3 to clinch the overall match for the Principia. The women were not finished there as Saray Hernandez Cisneros turned things around after a first set loss to dominate the second set 6-1 and force a third set tiebreaker. In the back-and-forth 10-pointer, Cisneros prevailed for a hard fought 10-8 win. Ruth Hummell lost her #6 singles match in straight sets, but she made great strides to keep things close in the second set. The last match to finish was #5 singles with Kimbeley Peterson who came back in the first to force a tiebreaker at 6-6. Peterson won the tiebreaker 7-3 before playing steady tennis and finish out the second set 6-1.
Up Next: The Panthers next match is next Tuesday at home against Southwestern Illinois College. The Panthers will be celebrating Senior Night celebrating Kelsie Huss. Come out and support the women's team and honor Kelsie at 5:30 pm.
