Upsets Mark Day as Wright State, Youngstown State Advance to Women's Tennis Championship

Cleveland State vs. Wright State Box Score | UIC vs. Youngstown State Box Score

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Upsets marked the day at the Horizon League Women’s Tennis Championship semifinals, as No. 5 Wright State and No. 3 Youngstown State punched tickets into the finals with tightly-contested wins.

Wright State took down top-seeded Cleveland State, 4-3, in a match that came down to the third set of No. 1 singles; Youngstown State knocked off No. 2 UIC, 4-1, with four of the six singles matches going into the third set.

Youngstown State will be gunning for its third consecutive Horizon League women’s tennis crown, while Wright State is making its first appearance in the championship game. The match will begin at 11 a.m. ET and be carried live on ESPN3.

Wright State struck first against Cleveland State, as Taylor Culbertson and Tori Turner clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 victory at No. 1 doubles.

The doubles matches would fit a theme as every time the Vikings rallied, Wright State was able to respond with a point to regain the lead. Aleksandra Golawska’s victory at No. 5 (6-0, 6-3) evened the match, but Linsey Verstrepen’s straight-set win at No. 2 (6-2, 6-4) brought the Raiders back ahead in the match, 2-1.

Once again, the Vikings tied the match, this time as Princess Gbadamossi took a straight-set 6-2, 6-4 victory at No. 4. Aby Madrigal then pulled the Raiders within a point of the match with a 6-3, 6-4 triumph at No. 6.

Still, Cleveland State had one more push in it, as Victoria Bensimon closed out her match at No. 3, 6-4, 6-4, and pushing all the players on to court No. 2 to watch the conclusion of No. 1 singles play out on the adjacent court.

Down 3-0 early in the third set, Karoline Haller then rallied to knot the deciding set at 3 before Isabella Spindler took a 4-3 lead at the break. However, Haller would take the last three games to set off a celebration amongst her teammates as she clinched the match, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.

While that drama played out on the south bank of outdoor courts, Youngstown State and UIC were pushing each other to the brink in nearly every singles match.

After the teams traded 6-3 victories at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles, Ana Stroe and Julianna Heino ground out a 7-5 win at No. 3 to put Youngstown State on the board first.

Sofia Macias would quickly extend the Penguins lead to 2-0, racing out to a 6-3, 6-1 victory at No. 4 singles. At No. 1, Jackie Altansarnai collected a straight set win, 6-1, 6-3, to slice UIC’s deficit in half.

From there, each match extended into the third set, creating tension on the north bank. Noelly Nsimba was the first to decide a three-set match, as she overcame an early deficit to take the win at No. 3, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, and push the Penguins within a point of the championship match.

In two of the three remaining matches on court, UIC held leads in the third set, but Nehel Sahni  collected two early breaks before breaking once more to claim a 7-6, 3-6, 6-2 victory at No. 5 and send Youngstown State into its fourth consecutive Horizon League women’s tennis championship match.