The Belmont University women’s tennis team lost 7-0 to Murray State on April 17, closing out its regular season at the Bennie Purcell Tennis Courts. The Bruins, who finished the regular season with a record of 3-17 overall and 2-5 in the Missouri Valley Conference, were unable to win a set in singles play after dropping the doubles point.
This result finalizes Belmont’s placement as the No. 6 seed for next weekend’s Missouri Valley Conference Tennis Championship. The loss marks another challenge for the Bruins as they prepare for postseason play.
Belmont’s only success came at No. 1 doubles, where their top pair defeated Murray State’s Valeria Chaikovskaia and Bruna Melato by a score of 6-2. However, Murray State secured victories at both No. 2 and No. 3 doubles to clinch the opening point of the match.
In singles action, all matches went in straight sets to Murray State. At No. 1 singles, Webster took Chaikovskaia to a close first set before losing in two sets (7-5, 6-1). At No. 5 singles, Senior forced an opening-set tiebreaker but was defeated in straight sets as well (tiebreaker first set; second set: 6-2). Graduate was forced to retire early from her match at No. 2 singles despite leading Yuna Kadowaki of Murray State by one game.
Looking ahead, Belmont will face an undetermined third seed on Friday afternoon during the first round of the conference championship tournament held April 24–26 at University of Illinois Chicago’s Flames Outdoor Tennis Courts. The full bracket will be released following completion of all regular-season matches.
