April 21, 2021-The Emporia State women won 7-0 while the men fell 4-3 on Wednesday afternoon at Bethel.
The Hornet women defeated a short handed Thresher squad in short order. Both
Kelsie Burr and Silvana Caceras at #1 doubles and Cyrielle Pyroche and
Karen Santiago Sanchez at #2 doubles won 6-0 while
Viktoria Mackova and
Colby Fugit won by default at #3. Bethel had to default at #3 doubles to a lack of players.
Santiago Sanchez at #2 singles and Caceras at #4 each won 6-0, 6-0 while Mackova picked up a 6-2, 6-2 win at #3 and Peyroche won 6-4, 6-1 at #1 singles. The only drama for the women came at #5 singles where
Emma Biggs won 6-1, 1-6, 1-0 (10-1) to complete the sweep.
The Hornet men had more of a battle on their hands with the Threshers, who entered the match 10-4 on the season. Emporia State started off well with
Andy Graff and
Taylor Nelson winning 6-3 at #1 double with
Harrison Brown and
Theo Belmonte doing likewise at #3 doubles to give Emporia State the 1-0 lead headed to singles.
Graff gave Emporia State a 2-0 lead with a 6-2, 6-1 win at #3 singles before Bethel took a 3-2 lead with wins at #1, #2 and #5 singles. Belmonte scored a 6-3, 6-3 win at #6 singles to even the dual at 3-3 bringing the final outcome down to #4 singles. Brown dropped the first set 6-4 and came back to win the second 7-6 in a tiebreaker to force a third and deciding set. Tomas Quercia was able to pull it out 11-9 to give the Thresher a 4-3 win in the dual.
The Emporia State women will return to the EHS Courts on Saturday to take on Neb.-Kearney before playing their final regular season match against Fort Hays State on Sunday. The Hornets need to win both matches to have a chance at advancing to the MIAA Tournament as one of the top six seeds. First serve on Saturday is at 11:00 a.m.
With only two teams from the MIAA advancing to the MIAA/GAC Men's Tournament, the Hornet men have been eliminated and will play a final exhibition match against Barton CC on Monday at the EHS Courts. First serve will be at 12:00 p.m.
