St. Louis,  Mo.,  April 6, 2021  – Sophomore Anke Patel picked up the match-clinching singles win on her birthday to give the Washington University in St. Louis women's tennis team a 4-3 win over Division II Missouri-St. Louis Tuesday evening at the UMSL Tennis Courts.

Patel bounced back from an 6-3 opening set loss at No. 6 singles to win 6-2 in the second set before battling to a 10-5 victory in Set 3 to clinch the match and give the Bears (4-1) their fourth-consecutive win.

"The Bears fought hard today and their positivity and support for each other helped us in a tough match," said WashU head coach Paige Madara. "Anke came through with a gritty three set win to clinch the Bears victory on her birthday."

WashU opened the match with a sweep in doubles to earn a crucial point. Senior Ally Persky and first year Karen Gao won 6-2 at No. 1 doubles while first year Katherine Johnston and senior Laurel Wanger won 7-5 at No. 2 and senior Emma Sass and junior Divya Sharma won 6-3 at No. 3. 

Gao also picked up a win in singles with 6-2, 7-6 victory at No. 2 while Sharma won 6-2, 6-3 at No. 3 to join Patel in the singles win column. Persky dropped a three-set heartbreaker at No. 1 (5-7, 6-3, 10-6) while Wanger fell 6-1, 6-1 at No. 4 and junior Hannah Johnston lost 6-2, 6-2 at No. 5. 

The Bears look to continue their winning streak Thursday with a road match at Lindenwood before returning home for a 1 p.m. match against Augustana (Ill.) Saturday at the Tao Tennis Center.