TOPEKA, Kan. -- The No. 24 Washburn women's tennis team fought hard in front of their home crowd Friday night, but fell short to an undefeated Air Force Academy (Division I), 4-1.
The Ichabods suffered their first loss of the season and are now 5-1 while the 44th-ranked Falcons improved to 14-0.
After the Falcons claimed the win at No. 1 doubles,
Kinsey Fields and Maria Soler Valverde captured an exciting 7-6 (9-7) tiebreaker victory at No. 3. The duo remains undefeated and moves to 5-0 on the season. The deciding doubles match at No. 2 was also extended to a tiebreaker, but the Air Force Academy narrowly came out on top, 7-6 (7-4).
In singles competition, the Falcons went up 2-0 after picking up the victory at No. 1 singles.
Alexis Czapinski got the Ichabods on the board at the No. 2 slot with her 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) tiebreaker win. She improves to 6-0 in dual matches and 9-2 overall on the season. Despite an incredible showing of effort by the Ichabods, Air Force went on to win at No. 3 and clinched the match with the victory at the No. 5 position.
Washburn will stay at home for the next five matches and host the Newman Jets next Saturday, Mar. 2 at 1 p.m. at the Washburn Tennis Complex.
Singles competition
1. Fumagalli,TJ (AFA) def. Engelbrecht,Jacqueline (WU) 6-1, 6-1
2. Czapinski,Alexis (WU) def. Barnickel,Elizabeth (AFA) 6-3, 7-6 (7-3)
3. Jones,Meredith (AFA) def. Morrissey,Logan (WU) 6-2, 6-7 (4-7), 6-1
4. Soler Valverde,Maria (WU) vs. Harvey,Ashleigh (AFA) 4-6, 6-4, unfinished
5. Liberman,Nadeen (AFA) def. Crohn,Svea (WU) 6-2, 7-5
6. Lysaught,Madison (WU) vs. Laskey,Meredith (AFA) 1-6, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. Fumagalli,TJ/Kerrigan,Kristin (AFA) def. Czapinski,Alexis/Morrissey,Logan (WU) 6-4
2. Liberman,Nadeen/Barnickel,Elizabeth (AFA) def. Crohn,Svea/Engelbrecht,Jacqueline (WU) 7-6 (7-4)
3. Soler Valverde,Maria/Fields,Kinsey (WU) def. Kuo,Alex/Laskey,Meredith (AFA) 7-6 (9-7)
Match notes
Air Force Academy 14-0; National ranking #44 Washburn 5-1; National ranking #24
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (1,2,3,5)
