Women's tennis increases its winning streak to three on Sunday

RICHMOND, Ky. The Eastern Kentucky University women's tennis team pushes its win streak to three with a 4-1 win over UNC Greensboro and 4-2 win over Cumberlands (Ky.) Sunday at the Greg Adams Tennis Center.

EKU (3-2) opens the 2024-25 spring schedule with a 2-0 game at home after starting the season with three straight games away from Richmond.

Junior Marilou Cote had a perfect 4-0 performance on the day, winning from second place in doubles and the No. 2 and No. 3 fields in singles. The Levis, Quebec native earned the win over UNCG in three games. sets and defeated her UC opposition in straight, 6-0, 6-1 sets.

Junior Maria Triska picked up her first doubles win of the season in the victory over Cumberlands with a 6-1 match on court No. 3 paired with teammate Sasha Parhomenko.

Match One EKU 4, UNC Greenboro 1

EKU and UNC Greensboro played a contentious doubles match, with the Colonels reaching the deciding point on Cote's No. 2 court and Ceylin Ipek with a 7-6 [7-4] victory in tiebreak.

In singles, Parkhomenko rolled to victory with a 6-3, 6-2 straight set victory over Alexandra Dodashev, giving the Colonels a 2-0 lead over the Spartans. Zhansaya Bakytzhan would push EKU's lead to 3-0 with a 7-5, 6-2 win on Court No. 4 before UNCG got on the board with a win on Court No. 1 over Kentuckian Olivia Gallagher.

The Colonels found their match clincher on court No. 3 as Cote fought back with two emphatic 6-0 sets in the second and third after dropping the first in the tiebreaker to seal the 4-1 home opening victory for EKU.

Double
1. Anastasia Cherniakova And Masha Fedenko (EKU) final Alexandra Dodashev and Olivia Gallagher (UNCG) 6-2
2. Marilou Cote And Ceylin Ipek (EKU) final Sydney Bly and Raegan Mitchell (UNCG) 7-6 [7-4]
3. Elizabeth Birkevold and Lauren Thomson (UNCG) final. Under Elif Olzer And Sasha Parkhomenko (EKU) 6-4

Order of finishing: 1,3,2

Singles
1. Olivia Gallagher (UNCG) def. Masha Fedenko (EKU) 6-7 [5-7]6-3, 6-2
2. Sasha Parkhomenko (EKU) final Alexandra Dodashev (UNCG) 6-3, 6-2
3. Marilou Cote (EKU) final Raegan Mitchell (UNCG) 6-7 [1-7]6-0, 6-0
4. Zhansaya Bakytzhan (EKU) final Lauren Thomson (UNCG) 7-6, 6-2
5. Anastasia Cherniakova (EKU) vs. Sydney Bly (UNCG) 6-7 [7-8]unf.
6. Under Elif Olzer (EKU) vs. Elizabeth Birkevold (UNCG) 3-6, unf.

Order of finishing: 2,4,1,3

Match Two EKU 4, Cumberlands 2

The Colonels would continue their pair winning streak with 6-0 and 6-1 wins over field Nos. 2 and 3. EKU's has claimed the doubles point in three of the last four matches with their victories on Sunday.

In singles, EKU quickly increased its lead to 3-0 over Cumberlands with back-to-back wins over Cote (6-0, 6-1) and Anastas Cherniakova (6-4, 6-1) on court Nos. 2 and 4. Cumberlands however, extended the match with consecutive victories on court Nos. 1 and 3 to reduce the deficit to just one point, 3-2.

The Colonels considered their match a victory Under Elif Olzer on court No. 5 in a 6-3, 6-1 decision. The sixth singles match with Triska would remain incomplete despite a leading score of 7-5, 1-0 from the junior from Ukraine.

Double
1. Anastasia Cherniakova And Masha Fedenko (EKU) vs. Mahiro Hara and Liu YuFang (UC) 3-4, unf.
2. Zhansaya Bakytzhan And Marilou Cote (EKU) final Marina Nagai and Rion Yanuma (UC) 6-0
3. Sasha Parkhomenko And Maria Triska (EKU) final Bryndia Rosa and Victoria Zarate (UC) 6-1

Order of finishing: 2.3

Singles
1. Marina Nagai (UC) def. Masha Fedenko (EKU) 7-5, 2-6, 6-1
2. Marilou Cote (EKU) final Mahiro Hara (UC) 6-0, 6-1
3. Victoria Zarate (UC) def. Zhansaya Bakytzhan (EKU) 6-2, 6-2
4. Anastasia Cherniakova (EKU) final Bryndis Rosa (UC) 6-4, 6-1
5. Under Elif Olzer (EKU) final Rion Yanuma (UC) 6-3, 6-1
6. Maria Triska (EKU) vs. Liu YuFang (UC) 7-5, 1-0, unf.

Order of finishing: 2,4,3,1,5

Next up
EKU returns to action on January 24, playing in an unconventional pair of matches. The Colonels will host Lindsey Wilson College at 9 a.m. ET at the Greg Adams Tennis Center and then hit the road to face Marshall at 4 p.m.