All great seasons must come to an end.
For the West Virginia women’s tennis team, that end came last week at the Big East Conference Tournament in South Bend, Ind.
The Mountaineers, who finished the season with a final record of 17-7 and 7-3 in conference play, were able to make some noise early in the tournament before losing in their second-round match against eventual conference champion Notre Dame.
On Thursday, eighth-seeded WVU came away with a 4-2 win over ninth-seeded Cincinnati to advance to the second round.
"I am really excited that we came out and played as well as we did all year," said WVU head coach Marc Walters in a release. "Everyone contributed to the win and hung in there without giving anything away."
The Mountaineers swept the doubles point before winning three out of the five singles matches. Veronica Cardenas and Ashley Pilsbury both picked up straight set wins for WVU.
Cardenas, playing from the No. 3 seed, defeated Cincinnati’s Lindsey Lonergan 6-4, 7-5. Pilsbury beat Abby Mayo in the sixth spot in the lineup 6-0, 7-5.
Freshman Emily Mathis clinched the win with a three-set victory over Elise Woulfe.
On Friday, the Mountaineers ran into a Notre Dame team that came into the tournament ranked No. 6 in the nation. WVU lost 4-0.
"Notre Dame is going for a national title, and they played up to their reputation today," Walters said in a release. "I was pleased with our effort, and we did our best the entire match."
The Irish clinched the match when Kali Krisik beat Ashley Pilsbury 6-0, 6-0 in straight sets.
After their loss to Notre Dame, WVU was supposed to play a consolation match Saturday that could have given them a top-six finish in the tournament.
But, due to inclement weather, the matches were canceled, ending the season.
Seniors Stephanie LaFortune and Gabriela Blaskovicova will graduate this semester.
In the Big East Tournament, LaFortune finished her Mountaineer career with a straight set loss to Cincinnati’s Ksenia Slynko and didn’t play in the match against Notre Dame Friday.
The remaining players including several key members return next season for the Mountaineers.
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