By Aaron Williams–

After suffering two losses on the road to the University of Arkansas and Stephen F. Austin State University, the University of Louisville women’s tennis team returned home on the afternoon of Saturday, Jan. 28 to defeat Austin Peay State University, 6-1.

The win was the Cards’ second of the season both overall and at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center, improving their record to 2-2.

“I thought it was a good performance,” said head coach Mark Beckham following the match. “We have to make sure that we don’t have lapses. We have bad patches right now, whether it be five minutes or ten minutes. If we’re going to reach the goals we’ve set for ourselves, we have to make sure those bad patches are eliminated as much as possible.”

Rebecca Shine, nationally ranked by the Intercollegiate Tennis association as the No. 103 collegiate women’s single player, played APSU senior Vanya Tomic at the No. 1 singles match. Shine fell 7-5 in the first set before winning the second set 6-4 to force a tiebreaker. Tomic went on to win the tiebreaker 10-5, scoring APSU its only point in the match with her singles victory.
Shine remained positive and focused despite the loss and spoke of how her ranking is a motivational tool for her.

“Next week I look to keep more balls in play. I’m already motivated, so I’m just going to raise my level this week and see what happens next week,” said Shine.

The Cardinals dominated the rest of the singles matches. At the No. 2 spot, Mandy Brown defeated freshman Allison Carre in consecutive sets 7-5, 6-3. Cards’ senior Gabi Duncan defeated Austin Peay freshman Ornella Di Salvo 6-4, 6-4 at No. 3 while Louisville freshman Manuela Velasquez defeated APSU freshman Weronika Kurka at the No. 4. Sarah Miller dispatched the Governors’ Vanessa Tavares 6-0, 6-2, and Amelia Harris swept sophomore Andra Corenea 6-0, 6-0, scoring Louisville points at the No. 5 and No. 6 spots respectively.

The Cardinals also took the doubles point with all pairs winning their matches. The No. 1 pair, freshman Manuela Velasquez and senior Amelia Harris, won, 8-1. Junior Mandy Brown and sophomore Rebecca Shine won 8-3 as the No. 2 pair, and senior Sarah Miller along with junior Stefanie Villajuan claimed the No. 3 match with an 8-1 victory. All Big East sophomore Julia Fellerhoff did not play due to injury.

The women’s team should have ample opportunity for continued success with two more matches scheduled at Bass-Rudd Tennis Center before they go back out on the road. The Cards will face the Boilermakers of Purdue this Sunday, Feb. 4 at 11 a.m. and Furman University on Feb. 10 at 3 p.m.

“The level goes way back up again against Purdue,” said Beckham. “We’ve got some work to do, but I think we’re going to be ready for them.”

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Photo: Austin Lassell/The Louisville Cardinal