The Marshall University Women’s Tennis Team split its first home matches in Huntington, West Virginia, on Saturday, Jan. 27, defeating the Radford Highlanders and falling to the West Virginia Mountaineers.
The Herd swept the Highlanders 7-0 on the day. Johanna Strom and Emma Vanderheyden started the action with a 6-0 win over the Radford combo of Julia Abrams and Michaela Stephens.
Doroteja Joksovic and Aisling McGrane began singles play against Radford and completed straight-set wins. Strom continued the singles dominance, clinching her match with a 6-2, 6-0 win at the No. 1 spot in singles.
Vanderheyden and Rieke Gillar both won their matches in three sets. Andjela Lopicic wrapped up the sweep against the Highlanders winning in straight sets.
The Herd, however, didn’t start the day as dominant as they finished it. Marshall lost to the Mountaineers 4-3 to start the day. Strom, Vanderheyden and Gillar picked up the three wins for the Herd in their singles matches.
“Tough match against West Virginia,” head coach John Mercer said. “It was played at a good level. It came down to a couple of points in a couple of the matches, and we weren’t able to pull it out. We had the challenge of coming back out and playing again against a team we had a good match against last year, and it was good. I think we’re playing at a good level.”
Marshall will keep its season in the region, facing the Miami University RedHawks of Ohio in Barboursville, West Virginia, at 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 2.
