Members of the UMSL women’s tennis team hold up a banner and trophy after winning the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship for the first time in school history. It was UMSL’s third conference title of the spring sports season, following wins by the men’s and women’s golf teams. (Photo by Mac Wissel/GLVC)
Women’s Tennis
The University of Missouri–St. Louis women’s tennis team claimed its first-ever Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship on Sunday when it knocked off Indianapolis 4-2 in the championship dual at Center Grove High School in Greenwood, Indiana. The Tritons, seeded first in the GLVC East Division, set the tone for the afternoon by winning the first two doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead in the dual against the GLVC East Division’s No. 2 seed. The tandem of Hannah Tse and Morgan Lint beat Magda Kornijczuk and Silvia Zappoli 6-1 at No. 1 doubles, while Aleksandra Lopez and Millie Wileman knocked off Maelys Thiery-James and Liza Simak 6-2 at No. 2. UMSL built on that momentum singles play with Lint topping Simak 6-1, 6-1 at No. 4 singles and Tse taking down Thiery-James 7-6 (3), 6-1 at No. 1 singles. That gave the Tritons a 3-0 lead. The Greyhounds cut it to 3-2 after closing out singles wins at No. 5 and No. 6, but they were still left needing to take the two remaining matches. Instead, Wileman bounced back after dropping the second set against Kornijczuk and commanded the third in a 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 victory. In addition to clinching the conference title, the victory assured UMSL of a spot in the NCAA Division II Tournament when the bracket is revealed Monday evening. The Tritons had been ranked fifth in the most recent NCAA Midwest Regional Rankings. They will be making their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in school history and first since 2018. UMSL (15-4) reached Sunday’s championship match after beating Maryville 4-1 in Saturday’s GLVC Tournament semifinal. The Tritons won the doubles point and scored singles victories from Tse, Lopez and Wileman, the latter two in straight sets. At the conclusion of the tournament on Sunday, Tse, Lopez and Wileman were named to the all-tournament team. UMSL’s Megan Holdridge was named the GLVC Coach of the Year.
Baseball
The Tritons locked up the No. 2 seed in this week’s GLVC Tournament after taking three of four in their weekend series at Maryville to finish the regular season with a 24-8 conference record. They finished a game behind Missouri S&T in the regular-season conference standings. UMSL opened the series against Maryville with back-to-back shutout victories, beating the Saints 14-0 in eight innings in Thursday’s opener and taking the first game of Friday’s doubleheader 4-0. The Tritons combined for 27 hits in the two victories. Mitch Bonczkowski got the offense rolling early with a pair of home runs and a double during a six-RBI day on Thursday. Justin Simard had four hits and drove in three runs in the game. Bonczkowski, who now has 21 home runs and 67 RBI on the season, singled in a pair of runs in Friday’s first game, and Simard had an RBI single and a solo home run to cap the scoring. UMSL’s pitchers, led by starters Eli Cartwright and Garrett Brunstetter, combined to hold Maryville to seven hits in 15 innings in the first two games. Maryville turned things around later Friday, winning the second game of the doubleheader 17-0, but the Tritons wouldn’t let the Saints pull even in the series at Weber Field. Instead, UMSL jumped out to a two-run lead and held on for a 4-3 victory. Bonczkowski had two of the team’s eight hits. Justin Terhaar drove in what proved to be the game-winning run with a single in the fourth. The Tritons (30-20) will open GLVC Tournament play on Thursday at Mtn. Dew Park in Marion, Illinois. Their opponent will be determined on Wednesday evening.
Softball
UMSL split its weekend doubleheaders against Truman State and William Jewell at the UMSL Softball Field. The Tritons took the first game of both series, topping the Bulldogs 4-3 on Saturday and the Cardinals 4-2 on Sunday. But they suffered lopsided defeats in the second game each day, falling 10-3 on Saturday and 11-3 in five innings on Sunday. Kenzie Stoltz led UMSL to Saturday’s win, pitching 6 2/3 innings while holding Truman State to only two hits and one earned run while striking out seven. She also supplied a home run to left-center field in the sixth inning – one of two homers she hit on Saturday – as the Tritons took a 4-1 lead before holding on. Stoltz also collected the win in Sunday’s first game, holding William Jewell to two earned runs on seven hits. Kaytie Kossina and May Pasqualini each drove in runs for UMSL. The Tritons surrendered a total of 21 runs on 21 combined hits in the two weekend losses. UMSL (26-24, 19-9 GLVC) still grabbed the No. 4 seed in this week’s conference tournament and will take on fifth-seeded Rockhurst in the opening game at the Eastside Centre in East Peoria, Illinois.
