Wooster Opens Southern Slate with Pair of Wins

Qingyue Li
Qingyue Li
Shannon Sertz
Shannon Sertz

The College of Wooster women's tennis team breezed past Webster University 9-0 in its Hilton Head Island opener on Wednesday, and then rode an early singles surge to win 5-4 over The Catholic University of America on Friday afternoon.

Wooster (6-1) dropped a total of nine games against Webster (2-6). Sophomore Sarah Duran, who on Monday was tabbed as the North Coast Athletic Conference's Player of the Week, continued to lead the way for the Scots. Wooster's No. 2 singles player didn't drop a game in her win over Webster's Emma Ferguson, and she teamed up with classmate Kendra Devereux for an 8-1 win at No. 3 doubles.

Junior Shannon Sertz matched Duran's line for the Webster match. Sertz played third singles for the Scots, and was paired with sophomore Laura Haley for an 8-1 win at No. 1 doubles.

No Scot dropped more than two games in singles play against the Gorloks, as junior Qingyue Li won 6-0, 6-2 at No. 1, Haley and first-year Meklit Minassie posted a pair of 6-1 scores in the fourth and fifth flights, and first-year Emma Saxton was victorious 6-1, 6-0 in the sixth flight.

Li and Minassie's 8-0 win at No. 2 doubles rounded out the results against Webster.

Wooster found itself down 2-1 heading into singles against Catholic (2-6) after a pair of 7-5 tiebreakers in doubles went to the Cardinals.

Sertz blanked Lisa Genadry 6-0, 6-0 in third singles to tie the match up, while Li's 6-3, 6-3 win in the top flight staked Wooster to a 3-2 lead.

Duran (2-6, 6-1, 1-0 (4)) and Haley (7-5, 6-2) provided the needed scoring to secure the win, with the latter clinching the match out of the fourth flight.

Li and Sertz were victorious over Lauren Edwards and Brooke Simonson at No. 1 doubles.

Noteworthy, Li won her 25th career No. 1 singles match on Wednesday to become the fourth student-athlete in program history to reach the milestone. Joanna Tysko (2004-07) was the last Scot to do so.

Wooster has three more matches in South Carolina, starting with a 9 a.m. tilt against Southern Virginia University (6-0) on Saturday.