WATERLOO, Iowa – Eastern Illinois women's tennis played the first of two matches against Creighton on Friday evening as the Panthers lost the first in the series, 5-2.
The match was played in Waterloo, Iowa as both teams were also scheduled to face Northern Iowa over the weekend but due to COVID-19 protocols within the UNI program, both Creighton and EIU will face each other twice at the neutral site. The second match is set for 10 am on Saturday morning.
EIU fell to 1-2 on the season with the loss while the match was the season opener for Creighton (1-0).
Rachel Papavasilopoulos, who was named to Ohio Valley Conference preseason top players list earlier this week, improved to 3-0 on the season with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Kate Krueger at No. 1 singles. The win was her 35th at No. 1 singles moving her into a tie with Janelle Prisner for second most No. 1 singles wins during EIU's time in the OVC.
The Panthers other point in the match was picked up by
Elizaveta Bukraba-Ulanova with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Alex Centra at No. 3 singles.
Creighton captured the doubles point winning at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. Papavasilopoulos and
Christine Gouws won 7-5 for EIU at No. 1 doubles.
Papavasilopoulos' win made the score 2-1 while Gouws' win brought the match to 3-2. Creighton would secure the match with a win at No. 6 singles by Erin Epperson.
