In a River States Conference Quarterfinal women's tennis matchup, the Shawnee State women's tennis program dropped a 4-0 decision to the Indiana-Kokomo Cougars' women's tennis program in a tennis matchup that was held in Evansville, Ind. Thursday morning and afternoon.

In a tight No. 2 doubles match, the doubles pairing of Vanessa Akuaku and Antonia Ilea took Indiana-Kokomo's Ava Allen and Chloe Schmidt to a tight 6-4 decision, dropping a scant setback in that affair. SSU, behind Lacey and Lexy Urban at No. 1 doubles, held a 5-4 lead against Indiana-Kokomo's Maria Oliveira and Reiley Hiser, but that match was halted following the result at No. 2 doubles, as IU-Kokomo also nabbed a win at No. 3 doubles to give the Cougars the doubles point.

IU-Kokomo was also able to win at No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 singles to close out the match, but SSU faired well at the top of the lineup before the play-to-clinch match was clinched, as Akuaku won the first set over Oliveira 6-3 while Lacey Urban defeated Allen 6-3 in her first set and was leading 4-3 in the second set when the match was halted. Ilea, the No. 3 singles hand, was tied with Larissa O'Rourke, 2-2, in the second set when the match came to a stop due to IU-Kokomo collecting the four necessary points to clinch.

Lacey and Lexy Urban, along with McKenzie Harman, depart the Shawnee State women's tennis roster as the trio graduate out of the program. Lacey Urban was a member of both the 2021 and 2024 units, which hold the program's all-time mark for single-season match victories at seven each, while Lexy Urban and Harman were not only reliable women's tennis players but students who will each finish as NAIA Scholar-Athletes.

For more information on SSU Bears Athletics, visit www.ssubears.com or visit the Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube pages at https://twitter.com/ SSUBears, https://www. facebook.com/SSUBears, https:/ /www.instagram.com/ssubears/? hl=en, and https://www. youtube.com/@ ssubearsathletics/videos. For more information on how to join the SSU Bear Club or for sponsorship of specific SSU players or events, visit https://givetossu.com/ bear-club and https:// givetossu.com/sponsorthebears.