Women's Tennis Advances to MVC Championship Semis with 4-1 Victory over Northern Iowa Friday

VALPARAISO, Ind. – For the third consecutive year, the Belmont University women's tennis team has advanced to the Missouri Valley Conference Tennis Championship semifinals following a dominant 4-1 victory over Northern Iowa Friday in the quarterfinals at the Valpo Tennis Complex in Valparaiso, Indiana. The fourth-seeded Bruins (7-14) won the doubles point and earned straight-set victories at No. 2, No. 5 and No. 6 singles.
 
Senior Aly Getty clinched the match at the fifth spot, while the Panthers' lone team point came at the top of the singles lineup.
 
For the second-straight year, Belmont will take on top-seeded Murray State in the MVC Championship semifinals Saturday morning.
 
In doubles, it was the tandem of junior Libbie Hamilton and freshman Sarah McElrath who won the pivotal first point for the Bruins. At No. 3 doubles, the pair defeated Northern Iowa's Abbie Peterson and Kanyanut Sudsaard 7-5 after Getty and fellow senior Anastasiya Zholdakova topped the Panthers' Andjela Raznataovic and Kim Zizek 6-3 at the second position.
 
Northern Iowa (7-15) took No. 1 doubles 6-4.
 
Senior Viktoria Kliimand wasted very little time in giving Belmont a 2-0 lead in the match as she conceded only one game in 6-0, 6-1 rout of the Panthers' Lorena Cardosa on court two.
 
Northern Iowa's Darta Dalecka gave the Panthers their only point as she got past Zholdakova 7-5, 6-3 at the No. 1 spot.
 
McElrath and Getty then finished off the match at the sixth and fifth singles positions, respectively. At No. 6, McElrath edged Northern Iowa's Peterson 7-5 in an opening set tiebreaker before winning the second set 6-3. After prevailing in a 7-5 first set against the Panthers' Sudsaard at No. 5 singles, Getty cruised to a 6-1 set two triumph.
 
Up Next
First serve between the Bruins and defending champion Racers is set for 10 a.m. Saturday. Regular season champion Murray State handed Belmont a 5-2 loss earlier this month in Murray, Kentucky. The Bruins won at No. 4 and No. 5 singles during the regular season. Second-seeded UIC takes on third-seeded Illinois State in the second semifinal Saturday afternoon. The 2025 MVC Tennis Championship title match is Sunday at 10 a.m.
 
How to Follow
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