Women's Tennis | 10/10/2012 12:20:00 PM

WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's tennis team earned its biggest win of the season Tuesday afternoon, knocking defending West Virginia Conference champion Charleston from the ranks of the unbeaten in a 6-3 thriller at the Edgar Martin Tennis Complex.
    Coach Heather Gallagher's Hilltoppers (10-1, 8-1) pulled out narrow wins in two of the three doubles matches to gain the upper hand and then won four of the six singles matches to hand the Golden Eagles (7-1, 7-1) their first loss of the season.
    Lauren Howard and Raissa Wischi led the way for West Liberty. The returning All-WVIAC tandem teamed up for the tiebreaker win at No. 1 doubles that got the ball rolling for the hosts and followed that up with straight-set victories at the top two singles spots.
    Alex Barr and Zineb Houssaini also came up big for the hosts. After teaming up for their own tiebreaker triumph at No. 2 doubles, both players delivered big singles wins to put the Black and Gold over the top.
    Barr prevailed in the the match of the day at No. 4 singles, pulling out a 10-8 victory in a tiebreaker after splitting the first two sets. Houssaini swept to a straight-set win at No. 5 singles to extend West Liberty's final margin.
    The Hilltoppers close out their WVIAC regular season slate on Thursday when they host Davis & Elkins in a 4 p.m. match.
 
WOMEN'S TENNIS
West Liberty 6, Charleston 3
Singles
Lauren Howard (WLU) d. Laura Smith, 6-0 6-3
Raissa Wischi (WLU) d. Kelsey Hensley, 6-3 6-1
Ana Maria Pena (UC) d. Emily Dawson, 6-4 6-3
Alex Barr (WLU) d. Mallika Mali, 6-3 2-6 (10-8)
Zineb Houssaini (WLU) d. Taylor Todd, 6-2 6-2
Courtney Pierron (UC) d. Christina Pauley, 6-0 6-2
Doubles
Howard/Wischi (WLU) d. Hensley/Smith, 9-8 (2)
Barr/Houssaini (WLU) d. Pena/Pierron, 9-8 (2)
Mali/Todd (UC) d. Dawson/Sarah Howells, 8-3