Women's Tennis | 4/29/2023 9:12:00 PM
TOPEKA, Kan. — The McPherson College Bulldogs came up just short Saturday (Apr. 29), falling 4-3 in the KCAC championship match to the Ottawa University Braves in Topeka, Kan.
"I can't express how proud I am of these ladies! From a fourth place regular season finish in conference to a second place finish taking out the top seed in the semifinals, that's great!" head coach Keiran President said. "They then went on to go down to the wire with a team they lost to earlier in the year."
Camila Sanchez and Vanessa Hofer put the Bulldogs on top for the doubles point, winning 6-2, but the Braves evened it up with a 7-5 win in the top doubles position. Isidora Hrjnak and Lily Keimig gave the Braves the 1-0 lead heading into singles with a 6-4 win over Kayla Ortiz and Maddie Dobson.
Kendra Maples leveled the score with a convincing 6-3, 6-2 win, but again the Braves had an answer, winning #2 singles 6-2, 6-3 over Grace Maxey. Ottawa pushed their lead to 3-1 with a win in the #3 singles spot, but Dobson answered with a 6-4, 7-6 win.
Sanchez tied the score once again 3-3, winning in the top singles position after dropping the first set, but a three-set thriller in the #5 spot gave the Braves the win.
"We had a tough season, playing a lot of ranked non-conference matches with only six girls," President said. "They fought and played hard through it all! Sad to see our season come to an end, but we went down giving it our all!"
Full Results
Doubles
1. M. Alli-Balogun/Herrera (OU) def. Maxey/Maples (MC) — 7-5
2. Sanchez/Hofer (MC) def. Sharma/Persson (OU) — 6-2
3. Hrjnak/Keimig (OU) def. Ortiz/Dobson (MC) — 6-4
Singles Competition
1. Camila Sanchez (MC) def. Isidora Hrjnak (OU) — 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
2. Priyanshi Sharma (OU) def. Grace Maxey (MC) — 6-2, 6-3
3. Mariam Alli-Balogun (OU) def. Vanessa Hofer (MC) — 6-2, 7-5
4. Kendra Maples (MC) def. Alexandra Persson (OU) — 6-3, 6-2
5. Alejandra Herrera (OU) def. Kayla Ortiz (MC) — 7-5, 2-6, 6-4
6. Maddie Dobson (MC) def. Lily Keimig (OU) — 6-4, 7-6 (8)
The Bulldogs season comes to an end with a 10-14 record but a 6-3 mark in KCAC play.
