Thrilling Comeback Sends Panthers Past Bison

Milwaukee now 6-5 on the year

ORLANDO, Fla. – Despite falling down early and facing numerous elimination points, the Milwaukee women's tennis team battled all the way back for a thrilling 4-3 win over Bucknell University Wednesday afternoon in Orlando.

The win is the third in a row for UWM, who now improves to 6-5 on the season one year after winning just six matches all season.

"I'm super proud of this team right now," Milwaukee head coach Jeff Aranda said. "This was an amazing win. Being down 3-1 is obviously never easy, but our women never quit. Alysa, Dana and Aerielle all faced a lot of adversity in their matches and all of them showed a lot of fight to earn this win today."

Down 3-1, Milwaukee was left to its 4-6 spots to stay alive. They did more than just that, as the veteran portion of the squad posted a comeback for the ages.

Dana Shannon got things started. The senior fell down early before battling to a marathon, 3-6, 6-2, 11-9 win to make it 3-2.

Aerielle Pendleton then kept things going at the No. 6 spot. Just like Shannon, Pendleton took a little while to find her rhythm, but once she did it was fun to watch in a 4-6, 6-4, 15-13 winner to knot things up at 3-3.

With the match on the line, it all came down to Alysa Straub. She battled with Bucknell's Michele Urbinati in a marathon match and despite falling down 2-5 in the second set, Straub fought all the way back for a 7-5, 7-6 (2) win to send the Panthers home with the win. With the victory, Straub now moves into sole possession of 10^th place all time in program history with 44 now midway through her junior campaign.

Milwaukee's huge comeback was made possible by a pair of big wins early on to take the doubles point. Straub and Laurie Clark won, 6-4, while Shannon and Masha Lobanova claimed a 6-3 'W' to claim the early lead.

The Panthers return to action Friday with a match against No. 57 Florida International in Miami.

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Players Mentioned

Aerielle Pendleton: Junior

Dana Shannon: Senior

Alysa Straub: Junior

Masha Lobanova: Freshman

Laurie Clark: Freshman

Players Mentioned

Aerielle Pendleton
: Junior

Dana Shannon
: Senior

Alysa Straub
: Junior

Masha Lobanova
: Freshman

Laurie Clark
: Freshman