Match 15
#4 Lindenwood (7-7, 3-2 OVC)
vs. #5 Western Illinois (6-12, 3-2 OVC)
Match Information:
Date: Friday, April 17, 2026.
Location: St. Louis, Mo.
Venue: Dwight Davis Tennis Center
Time: 9:00 AM CT
All-Time Series: 2-2
Last Meeting: W, 6-1


Last Time Out
The Lindenwood Women's Tennis team ended their regular season with a 4-3 win over Saint Louis at home last Sunday. The Lions got singles victories from Paola Garcia, Megan Caffin, Mathilde Humbert, and Sofija Dunisijevic to clinch their seventh win of the 2026 season and gave the Senior class one more win at home during their Lindenwood careers. Garcia was the one who clinched the match for Lindenwood against the Billikens, rallying from one set down to win in three sets by a score of 4-6, 6-0, 6-2. LU earned the #4 seed in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament and will battle the #5 seed Western Illinois Leathernecks tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. in the opening round of the tournament. 

Scouting The Leathernecks
Western Illinois battled for a chance at the #1 seed in the OVC Tournament in their last match of the regular season at SIUE, but the Cougars defeated the Leathernecks by a score of 5-2 to claim the OVC regular season title. WIU got two singles wins at the number two and three spots in the match with SIUE thanks to Sophomores Mana Fawcett and Richardlyne Francois. Fawcett won her match in straight sets over Elena Palioura by a score of 6-4, 6-4 and Francois took down Stefaniya Anikina in three sets after losing the first set by a score of 2-6, 6-1, 11-9. WIU is led by Fawcett who is a two-time OVC Singles Player of the Week this season, and by Jessica Hess, who has won five OVC Doubles Team of the Week honors with Fawcett as her doubles partner. 

In the last matchup between Lindenwood and Western Illinois, the Lions defeated the Leathernecks back on March 22 on the road by a score of 6-1 behind all six singles victories coming from LU, with five of the six going to a third set. 

Stats To Know

• Fabiana Labrador and Megan Caffin were both named to an All-OVC Team on Thursday morning. This marks the first time in the Division I Era that two or more Women's Tennis athletes have received All-OVC honors in the same season. 
• Lindenwood is looking for their first OVC Tournament win since joining the conference in 2022-23. 
• Paola Garcia and Sofija Dunisijevic have both won nine singles matches this season, which is the most by a single player(s) at the Division I level. 
• One more win by the Lions would be the most wins in a single season (8) since the 2021-22 season. 

Up Next
The winner between Lindenwood and Western Illinois will advance to Saturday's OVC Tournament semifinal round and will take on the #1 seed SIUE Cougars. The semifinal match is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. CT.