Saturday, April 5
Radford, Va.
11:00 AM
Radford University
2
vs
5
Gardner-Webb
Photo by: Rob Simmons
Smolder and Ekanem Earns Singles Wins Against Gardner-Webb
4/5/2025 2:18:00 PM | Women's Tennis
RADFORD, Va. – The Radford women's tennis program fell to Gardner-Webb 5-2 Saturday afternoon with Lexi Smolder and Rachel Ekanem highlighting with their singles wins.
Prior to the match, Radford honored their two seniors on the roster Julia Abrams and Lexi Smolder. The pairing have been dominating on the Radford home courts since 2021.
The doubles point was tight and competitive between the two teams as matches on courts one and three bounced back and forth. Gardner-Webb would take court two and use a comeback on court one to take the 1-0 lead. On court three, Brooke Murphy and Michaela Stephens rallied to earn a 6-4 victory.
In singles, Gardner-Webb would clinch the match with wins on courts four, five and one. On court three, Lexi Smolder put a point in Radford's column with a dominant showing. For her senior day, Smolder took the first set 6-3 thanks to a late rally. After being tied 4-4 in the second set, Smolder dug deep and won the next two games to seal the win 6-3, 6-4.
Over on court six, Ekanem also dug deep for her win. After dropping the first set, Ekanem rallied in set two winning 6-3. In a tiebreaker third set, she fell behind early but hung tough to seal the 1-6, 6-3, 1-0(8) win on court six finishing the match in a 5-2 final.
UP NEXT
Radford will be back in action in one week's time for the regular season finale. In a match with major postseason implications, Radford visits Presbyterian for a 1 p.m. start.
Follow Women's Tennis on Social Media
For more information on the Radford Women's Tennis team follow @RadfordWTennis on X and Instagram, as well as Radford Women's Tennis on Facebook.
Prior to the match, Radford honored their two seniors on the roster Julia Abrams and Lexi Smolder. The pairing have been dominating on the Radford home courts since 2021.
The doubles point was tight and competitive between the two teams as matches on courts one and three bounced back and forth. Gardner-Webb would take court two and use a comeback on court one to take the 1-0 lead. On court three, Brooke Murphy and Michaela Stephens rallied to earn a 6-4 victory.
In singles, Gardner-Webb would clinch the match with wins on courts four, five and one. On court three, Lexi Smolder put a point in Radford's column with a dominant showing. For her senior day, Smolder took the first set 6-3 thanks to a late rally. After being tied 4-4 in the second set, Smolder dug deep and won the next two games to seal the win 6-3, 6-4.
Over on court six, Ekanem also dug deep for her win. After dropping the first set, Ekanem rallied in set two winning 6-3. In a tiebreaker third set, she fell behind early but hung tough to seal the 1-6, 6-3, 1-0(8) win on court six finishing the match in a 5-2 final.
UP NEXT
Radford will be back in action in one week's time for the regular season finale. In a match with major postseason implications, Radford visits Presbyterian for a 1 p.m. start.
Follow Women's Tennis on Social Media
For more information on the Radford Women's Tennis team follow @RadfordWTennis on X and Instagram, as well as Radford Women's Tennis on Facebook.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,1,3
#1 Singles Match
12
Emilia Roslund / 0 [GWUW]
66
23
#2 Singles Match
12
Alizee Poulin / 0 [GWUW]
66
24
#3 Singles Match
12
Milica Prokic / 0 [GWUW]
34
66
#4 Singles Match
12
Natalie Crawford / 0 [GWUW]
66
10
#5 Singles Match
12
Arili Boshoff / 0 [GWUW]
66
12
#6 Singles Match
123
Greta Murzsa / 0 [GWUW]
630
161
Order of Finish:
4,5,1,3,2,6
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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