NASHVILLE – The Lipscomb University women's tennis team rallied to even the score at 3-3, but Middle Tennessee State University clinched the match at No. 6 singles to defeat the Bisons, 4-3, Saturday afternoon from the Ensworth Tennis Center.
Final Score: Middle Tennessee State 4, Lipscomb 3
Location: Nashville, Tennessee (Ensworth Tennis Center)
Records: Lipscomb (2-1), Middle Tennessee State (2-4)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Middle Tennessee State cruised to the early lead for the doubles point at the No. 2. However,
Mariia Dolzhenko and
Rut Galindo (2-1) returned the favor with a 6-3 win at the top flight.
Despite the Blue Raiders evening the set up at two points apiece, the Bison duo won four of the next five to win the flight.
Coming down to the 3-doubles flight, Ilaria Sposetti and Cassidy Mataia won the final three points to get MTSU out to a 1-0 lead.
The visitors got out to a 2-0 lead with Lena Peyer winning in straight sets over
Rut Galindo. However, that would be the only set to go two out of six singles players.
Deborah Dominguez Collado (3-0) put the Bisons on the board, taking down Cassidy Matalia by set scores of 6-2, 2-6, 6-0.
Sofiia Paladi evened the match up at two team points apiece for the Bisons as she rallied from a 2-6 loss in the opening set to drop her opponent, 6-4, 6-0, at the top spot to improve to 3-0 this spring.
The momentum went back-and-forth from there, as the Blue Raiders made it a 3-2 lead after Sposetti's win at the No. 2 spot.
However, the Bisons got the match back even, as freshman
Serafima Bobrovnikova (3-0) used a 7-5 tiebreak in the second set to defeat Rutuja Chaphalkar, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3.
Coming down to the No. 6 flight for the match now that we are even at 3-3, Zenn Lim faced off with
Sofiia Zhylchuk. After dropping the first set, 6-2, the sophomore transfer forced a third set with a 6-2 win of her own in the second.
The final set was as even as you can play it, with nobody having more than a one-point advantage. Tied at five, Zhylchuk got the win to make it 6-5 and needed one more game to clinch the match for the Bisons, but Lim prevailed and forced a tiebreaker situation in the final set.
For a set going over three hours, the teams followed suit from earlier in the set, going back-and-forth. Zhylchuk made it a 5-5 score.
The next game seemed to be as long as the third set alone, but an out-of-bounds call by Lipscomb gave MTSU the game and match point. However, because of a second penalty by the Bisons at that flight, the Blue Raiders were able to gain an extra point to clinch the match for Middle Tennessee.
UP NEXT
It will be a quick turnaround for the Bisons on Sunday, as they host Eastern Illinois for a 10 a.m. start from the Ensworth Tennis Center.
