SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — The Bellarmine University women's tennis team's first match of the postseason bore a lot of resemblance to its overall performance in the regular season.
On Friday in the quarterfinals of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament, the Knights cruised to victory at the Cooper Tennis Complex by blanking Rockhurst 5-0.
The win marked Bellarmine's first in the GLVC Tournament since 2009. The top seed from the East Division, the Knights improved to 21-2, elevating their program-record win total another notch. Rockhurst, the No. 4 seed from the West Division, dropped to 9-10.
Bellarmine wrangled a commanding lead in doubles action. The All-GLVC duo of junior
Maggie Walroth and sophomore
Ashley Jonathan won 8-2 at No. 1 doubles, sophomore
Jennifer Skonieczny and senior
Marissa Kovach triumphed 8-4 at No. 2 and seniors
Mairin Cotter and
Bess Fley were victorious 8-5 at No. 3.
Bellarmine didn't mess around in singles play. Jonathan won 6-2, 6-2 at No. 3 and Kovach won 6-2, 6-0 at No. 4 to clinch the team victory. Both Skonieczny, at No. 1, and Walroth, at No. 2, needed one more win in their second sets to complete straight-sets victories as play stopped after the Knights sealed the team triumph.
With two victories Friday, Jonathan became the program's all-time single-season wins leader with 40.
Bellarmine will meet Missouri-St. Louis at 2 p.m. (ET) Saturday in the semifinals. The Tritons, the West's No. 2 seed, defeated Illinois Springfield 5-3.
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