RICHMOND, Va. (April 4, 2018) — Anna Kovalova returned to the Salem University Tigers women's tennis teams after two weeks out, but the Tigers fell short to Virginia Union University 5-4. 

Facing heavy winds, the Tigers split two doubles matches before an injury to Megan Perez ended a heavily contested match early with Salem trailing 4-3. 

Kovalova and Shelby Turpin combined to give the Tigers an 8-1 victory in the second spot in doubles. Keishla Gilmore and Jillian Romero, members of the women's basketball team making their tennis debuts, lost 8-0. 

Salem and Virginia Union split the singles matches 3-3, with Virginia Union claiming one singles victory via injury forfeit. 

"I was proud of the girls today, they fought hard," Head Coach Todd Tucker said. "Shelby Turpin had a great day, picking up two wins. Kristina Vuksanovic played well and it's nice to see Anna on the court again. We almost stole a victory today in Richmond."

With the loss, Salem drops to 1-18 on the season. Virginia Union University is now 5-5. The Tigers will hit the courts again tomorrow with a road match against Lander University at 2:30 p.m.

Results

Doubles

Sabrina Connor / Kyra Smylie (VU) def. Kristina Vuksanovic / Megan Perez (SU) 4-3 (def. injury)
Anna Kovalova / Shelby Turpin (SU) def. Amirah Eckles / Zsakee Crocker (VU) 8-1
Logan Reid / Michaela Mondesir (VU) def. Keishla Gilmore / Jillian Romero (SU) 8-0

Singles

Kristina Vuksanovic (SU) def. Sabrina Connor (SU) 8-2
Anna Kovalova (SU) def. Kyra Smylie (VU) 8-2
Shelby Turpin (SU) def. Logan Reid (VU) 8-6
Michaela Mondesir (VU) def. Megan Perez (SU) def. injury
Amirah Eckles (VU) def. Keishla Gilmore (SU) 8-5
Zsakee Crocker (VU) def. Jillian Romero (SU) 8-2