April 5, 2009

Results

MILWAUKEE - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's tennis team dropped a 5-2 decision to Cleveland State Sunday morning at the Paley Tennis Center.

The Panthers (8-8, 3-2 Horizon) narrowly missed out on the doubles point and then could not muster enough in singles action to pull out the victory.

Sammi Schoen claimed an impressive win in singles play, knocking off Jackie Tabb in straight sets. Tabb had been unbeaten in four previous league matches.

Meanwhile, on the doubles side, Kelly Drvaric and Kari Kastenholz captured an 8-4 win at #1 doubles, while Schoen and Ashley Schoneman put up a big fight in the second slot. But, the tandem eventually fell, 8-6, while Jenna Felsher and Megan Gow lost, 8-3, giving CSU the doubles point.

In other singles action, Kelly Drvaric won at #1 singles when Catrine Bjerrehus retired due to injury. Drvaric was up, 6-5, in the first set when Bjerrehus stepped aside. But, CSU won four other singles matches in straight sets to pull out the win.

"Cleveland State is a very good team but once again we put ourselves in a hole by losing the doubles point," UWM head coach Matt McCaskill said. "If we win the doubles point, it is a completely different match because now there is more pressure on Cleveland State in singles play.

"It was a great win by Sammi over Jackie Tabb and a pretty gutsy performance by my team overall. We'll just have to keep working on finding the right doubles combinations. Winning that point would make things a lot easier in singles play."

UWM hits the road next weekend, playing a league match against Detroit and a non-league match against Oakland.