Hilltopper Sports: Unleashing the Spirit of Western Kentucky University Athletics

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The WKU Women’s Tennis team commenced the 2025 season with a 6-1 triumph over Eastern Kentucky on Thursday at the Warren County Tennis Facility at Michael O. Buchanon Park.

HOW IT UNFOLDED

Singles (Order of completion: 6, 2, 5, 1, 4, 3)

Doubles (Order of completion: 1, 2)

HIGHLIGHTS

• With Thursday’s outcome, the Lady Toppers begin the season with a victory for the third time in the past four seasons.
• WKU enhances its record to 8-11 historically against EKU, having secured wins in four out of the last five encounters. WKU’s record against the Colonels in Bowling Green now stands at 2-2.
• The Lady Toppers are now 1-0 at home this season. Last year, WKU achieved 11 home victories, marking the second-highest total in program history.
• With her triumph at the No. 1 singles spot, Rachel Hermanova increases her WKU record for career singles victories to 50.
• With her victory at the No. 2 singles position, Sofia Blanco now holds a 41-14 career record in singles competitions. She is three wins away from tying for second place in the program’s all-time list.
• Blanco’s Thursday victory improves her doubles record to 39-24. The 39 doubles wins rank as the second-most in the program’s history.
• With her performance at the No. 6 singles position, Emily Schut earned her first victory as part of the WKU Women’s Tennis team.
• Schut and Mia Miranda achieved their first doubles victories as Lady Toppers with their performance at the No. 2 position against EKU.
• Head Coach Greg Davis now holds a career record of 323-182 as a collegiate head coach, which encompasses 64 victories with the Lady Toppers. He began the season ranked 29th in total victories and 36th in winning percentage among active Division I women’s tennis head coaches with at least five years in the position.

QUOTATIONS

• “Maintaining our intensity throughout doubles and singles was crucial. We didn’t experience any drop in performance the entire day, which was significant. EKU is an exceptionally strong team and has nearly all players back from last season. If you told me beforehand that we would dominate 6-1, I would say, ‘Man, we performed excellently.’ For the season’s opening match, I believed we played remarkably well.” – WKU Women’s Tennis Head Coach Greg Davis.
• “I think we are all quite pleased to begin the season – our last season (for the seniors) – on a positive note. The key factor was to simply execute what we’ve been practicing and to be aggressive.” – WKU Women’s Tennis senior Mariana Zegada, reflecting on starting the season with a victory over EKU.
• “Just come in and exhibit aggression. We fought for every point and supported one another. I believe that was the secret to our success in this match.” – WKU Women’s Tennis senior Sofia Blanco, discussing the season start against EKU.

UP NEXT

• The Lady Toppers are set to compete in their first away match of the season on Sunday, Jan. 19, at Vanderbilt. The match is anticipated to commence at 3:30 p.m. CT.

For the latest updates on WKU Women’s Tennis, follow @WKUTennis on Twitter and Instagram.