WISE, Va. – The UVa-Wise women's tennis team suffered a challenging 8-1 Mountain East Conference loss to West Virginia Wesleyan Thursday evening at the Jim and Betty Humphreys Tennis Complex. However, the 8-1 team score does not tell the whole story of the three-and-half hour affair as the Cavaliers (2-3, 0-2 MEC) were in about every match against the visiting Lady Bobcats (3-0, 2-0 MEC).
 
West Virginia Wesleyan swept all three doubles matches and took five out of six singles matches, but the top four singles spots went to third sets. An 8-2 win by the Lady Bobcats' Sarah Cameron and Rebekka Heigermoser at No. 2 doubles over juniors Marti Gay (Denton, Texas) and Serena Burgess (Dumfries, Va.) gave West Virginia Wesleyan a 1-0 lead. At the top doubles spot, the duo of senior Bailey Christoforatos (Fredericksburg, Va.) and junior Daria Tyshchenko (Kirovograd, Ukraine) were unable to top West Virginia Wesleyan's Paula Pimenta and Cecila Martinez Oliver, falling 8-5. In the last doubles match of the afternoon, the tandem of freshmen Aya Melhem (Rockvale, Tenn.) and Taylor Carter (Church Hill, Tenn.) stayed on serve with Mariona Junyer and Eestel Fernandez Balada of West Virginia Wesleyan but a late service break gave the Lady Bobcats an 8-6 win.
 
Singles play started out a little rocky for the Cavs as West Virginia Wesleyan clinched the match with two wins at the bottom of the lineup. The Lady Bobcats' Cameron defeated sophomore Montana Hill (Riner, Va.) 6-0, 6-1 at No. 6 singles before West Virginia Wesleyan's Junyer clinched the match with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Gay at the fifth position.
 
At the top spot Tyshchenko bounced back from a 6-4 first-set loss against the Lady Bobcats' Pimenta, taking the second set 6-3 before falling 10-8 in the third. With the match already decided, every third set was played as a 10-point tiebreaker. The Cavs' lone point of the evening came at No. 4 singles where Carter outlasted Fernandez Balada of West Virginia Wesleyan in a third-set tiebreak. Carter lost the opening set 6-1 before claiming the second 6-4 and then the tiebreaker by a score of 10-8. At third singles, Christoforatos earned a 7-5 first-set win over the Lady Bobcats' Martinez Oliver before dropping the second set 6-3 and the tiebreaker, 10-5. In the final match at No. 2 singles, Melhem took a 6-2 opening set against Heigermoser of West Virginia Wesleyan before being defeated 6-3 in the second and 10-3 in the third-set tiebreak.
 
The Cavs now hit the road for a pair of MEC matches this weekend, first traveling to Fairmont State University Saturday for a 1 p.m. match before taking on Shepherd University Sunday at 10 a.m.
 
Visit uvawisecavs.com for all Cavalier women's tennis news, statistics, complete schedule and more.
 
Full Match Results
West Virginia Wesleyan 8, UVa-Wise 1
 
Singles
1. Paula Pimenta (WVWC) def. Daria Tyshchenko (WISE) 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-8)
2. Rebekka Heigermoser (WVWC) def. Aya Melhem (WISE) 2-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-3)
3. Cecila Martinez Oliver (WVWC) def. Bailey Christoforatos (WISE) 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (10-5)
4. Taylor Carter (WISE) def. Estel Fernandez Balada (WVWC) 1-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-8)
5. Mariona Junyer (WVWC) def. Marti Gay (WISE) 6-0, 6-3
6. Sarah Cameron (WVWC) def. Montana Hill (WISE) 6-0, 6-1
 
Doubles
1. Paula Pimenta/Cecila Martinez Oliver (WVWC) def. Daria Tyshchenko/Bailey Christoforatos (WISE) 8-5
2. Sarah Cameron/Rebekka Heigermoser (WVWC) def. Marti Gay/Serena Burgess (WISE) 8-2
3. Mariona Junyer/Estel Fernandez Balada (WVWC) def. Aya Melhem/Taylor Carter (WISE) 8-6