Women's tennis sweeps doubleheader

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Arkansas women’s tennis was able to sweep the doubleheader against Oklahoma State and Saint Louis University, 7-0 6-1 respectively, Saturday at the Dills Indoor Tennis Center. The Razorbacks were able to win 17 out of 18 matches on the day, including getting a rare doubles double bagel by the doubles team of sophomore Kate Lukomskaya and freshman Kelsey Sundaram, who went 8-0 in both of their doubles matches.

“This was a really encouraging start to the spring for our team,” said head coach Michael Hegarty. “Our players showed a lot of toughness throughout and got better as the day progressed.”

The 19th ranked Hogs began the day against the Cowgirls from Oklahoma State. Getting the lift from Lukomskaya and Sundaram, who won their match quickly, the Razorbacks were able to sweep the other two doubles matches and gain the all-important doubles point before starting singles play.

The story for singles play wasn’t much different from doubles as Arkansas won each match in straight sets, with the exception of sophomore Stephanie Roy, who took three sets to defeat Iryna Khastsko 6-4, 2-6, 6-1.

In the second match of the day against Saint Louis, the lineup was shuffled for Arkansas in singles play as sophomore Emily Carbone played at the 1 spot for the first time in her young Razorback career. Carbone, who showed grit in taking her match to a third set after losing the first wasn’t able to defeat Hailee Elmore 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-4).

At the no. 2 spot, Roy rallied after losing her first set, 6-7 (4), to win the next two 6-1, 1-0 (10-7) to defeat Casey Miller from Saint Louis. The rest of the singles matches followed suit, as each were won in straight sets.

The women’s team will return to action on Friday, January 29, when the Hogs play their first match of the ITA Kick-Off Classic against the Washington Huskies. They will play two more matches as part of the tournament on Saturday against Michigan and South Carolina. Friday’s match will begin at 3 p.m. at the Dills Indoor Tennis Center.Complete Results vs. Oklahoma StateArkansas 7 Oklahoma State 0DoublesOrder of Finish: 2, 1, 3No. 1: Anouk Tigu / Claudine Paulson (ARK) def. Alisa Buslaieva / Iryna Khatstsko (OSU) 8-5No. 2: Kate Lukomskaya / Kelsey Sundaram (ARK) def. Sara Meghoufel / Malika Rose (OSU) 8-0No. 3: Stephanie Roy/Valentina Starkova (ARK) def. Nataliya Shatkovskaya/Alexandria Cristello (OSU) 8-6SinglesOrder of Finish: 1, 6, 2*, 4, 3, 5No. 1: Anouk Tigu (ARK) def. Nataliya Shatkovskaya (OSU) 6-4, 6-0No. 2: Kate Lukomskaya (ARK) def. Alisa Buslaieva (OSU) 6-1, 7-6 (4)No. 3: Emily Carbone (ARK) def. Sara Meghoufel (OSU) 6-3, 6-4No. 4: Stephanie Roy (ARK) def. Iryna Khastsko (OSU) 6-4, 2-6, 6-1No. 5: Kelsey Sundaram (ARK) def. Malika Rose (OSU) 6-0, 7-5No. 6: Claudine Paulson (ARK) def. Alexandria Cristello (OSU) 6-4, 6-0Complete Results vs. Saint LouisArkansas 6 Saint Louis 1DoublesOrder of Finish: 1, 2, 3No. 1: Kate Lukomakaya/Kelsey Sundaram (ARK) def. Casey Miller/Sara Septein (SLU) 8-0No. 1: Claudine Paulson/Annemijin Koenen (ARK) def. Hailee Elmore/Mia Elmore (SLU) 8-2No. 1: Stephanie Roy/Valentina Starkova (ARK) def. Cailtin McKenna/Kasia Tomalak (SLU) 8-4 SinglesOrder of Finish: 6, 5, 3, 4, 2, 1No. 1: Hailee Elmore (SLU) def. Emily Carbone (ARK) 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (4)No. 2: Stephanie Roy (ARK) def. Casey Miller (SLU) 6-7(4), 6-1, 1-0(7)No. 3: Valentina Starkova (ARK) def. Sarah Septein (SLU) 6-2, 6-0No. 4: Kelsey Sundaram (ARK) def. Mia Elmore (SLU) 6-1, 6-2No. 5: Claudine Paulson (ARK) def. Caitlin McKenna (SLU) 6-4, 6-1No. 6: Fernanda Perrotta (ARK) def. Kasia Tomalak (SLU) 6-1, 6-2