Furman 7, College of Charleston 0

 

Greenville, SC - The Furman women's tennis team won their sixty-eighth straight Southern Conference regular season match with a 6-1 win over College of Charleston Sunday afternoon. The win moves the Lady Paladins at 14-6 on the year with a perfect 7-0 conference record. With the loss the Cougars fell to 12-10 on the year, 7-2 in conference play.

Furman took the doubles point and early 1-0 lead with wins in two of the three doubles matches. Lady Paladins Laura Gioia and Marti Morris won their flight one match over Chelsea Albertz and Payten Ellington 8-6. The Cougars responded with Amanda Becker and Jenna Marks downing Lisa Bornt-Davis and Shannon Moore 9-7 in flight three. With the doubles point on the line, Furman's Jacqueline Eckert and Lauren Osborne fought off three match points for a 9-7 victory over Maxine Capewell and Ashley Finnegan to give the Lady Paladins the 1-0 lead. Furman went on to capture five of the six singles matches in straight sets giving the Lady Paladins a 6-1 dual match victory.

Furman returns to action on Wednesday playing host to Appalachian State at 2:30 PM. Furman seniors Shannon Moore and Marti Morris will be recognized before the match.

Singles

1. Laura Gioia (FU) def. Maxine Capewell (CoC) 6-1, 6-1

2. Chelsea Albertz (CoC) def. Marti Morris (FU) 6-3, 6-4

3. Lauren Osborne (FU) def. Amanda Becker (CoC) 6-4, 6-0

4. Shannon Moore (FU) def. Ashley Finnegan (CoC) 6-4, 6-4

5. Bonnie Baird (FU) def. Payten Ellington (CoC) 6-1, 6-0

6. Lauren Tomory (FU) def. Jenna Marks (CoC) 6-2, 6-3

Doubles

1. Gioia/Morris (FU) def. Albertz/Ellington (CoC) 8-6

2. Eckert/Osborne (FU) def. Capewell/Finnegan (CoC) 9-7

3. Becker/Marks (CoC) def. Bornt-Davis/Moore (FU) 9-7

 

Mercer 5, Chattanooga 2

 

MACON, Ga. --- The women’s tennis players Anastasia Zhukova and Lindsey Ballard continue remarkable runs this season, but their efforts were not enough as the Lady Mocs dropped a 5-2 match at Mercer Sunday.

Zhukova and Ballard won their doubles match and respective singles matches against the Bears. Zhukova, playing at No. 1 singles, defeated Teresina Pazsoldan, 6-2, 6-1 for her 21st victory of the season against just one loss. Ballard bested Patricia Assumpcao, 6-3, 6-3 to win her 13th consecutive singles match at No. 2.

The Bears claimed the No. 2 and 3 doubles matches to win the doubles point and take a 1-0 lead.

Mercer captured the bottom four singles matches, all in straight sets.

Also competing for the Lady Mocs were Bonnie Adams at No. 3 singles, Talita Bragato at No. 4, Beata Knizat at No. 5 and Ashley Johnson at No. 6.

UTC, now 9-13 overall, closes out the regular season Wednesday at Western Carolina at 2:30 p.m. in Cullowhee, N.C.

Mercer 5, Chattanooga women 2
April 9, Macon, Ga.

Doubles (for one team point)
1. Ballard/Zhukova (UTC) d. Wolken/Maddox (GSU), 8-3
2. Blount/Pazsoldan (Mercer) d. Bragato/Knizat (UTC), 8-4
3. Citko/Sachs (Mercer) d. Adams/Johnson (UTC), 8-6

Singles
1. Anastasia Zhukova (UTC) d. Teresina Pazsoldan (Mercer), 6-2, 6-1
2. Lindsey Ballard (UTC) d. Patricia Assumpcao (Mercer), 6-3, 6-3
3. Lauriane Auvergne (Mercer) d. Bonnie Adams (UTC), 6-5, 6-4
4. Rachael Kerley (Mercer) d. Talita Bragato (UTC), 6-1, 6-2
5. Kelly Blount (Mercer) d. Beata Knizat (UTC), 6-3, 6-1
6. Karen Bellman (Mercer) d. Ashley Johnson (UTC), 6-2, 6-0
Team records: UTC (9-13); Mercer (7-11)

 

Appalachian State 4, UNC Greensboro 3

 

BOONE, N.C. ? The Mountaineers snapped a three-match losing streak as the Appalachian State University women’s tennis team defeated UNC Greensboro, 4-3, in Southern Conference play Sunday at the ASU Stadium Tennis Courts.

With the win the Mountaineers improve to 11-6 overall and 4-3 in SoCon play. The Spartans drop to 7-14 on the season and 2-7 in the league with the loss.

Appalachian clinched the doubles point, winning the first two doubles matches. The team of senior Lyndsey Free (Marietta, Ga.) and junior Anja Gugger (Cary, N.C.) defeated Emily Wade and Sophie Rychilk, 8-2, at the No. 1 position. Seniors Salem Kirven (Greensboro, N.C.) and Victory Moody (Irmo, S.C.) followed with an 8-2 victory over Sarah Templeton and Erica Zabkar at No. 3.

The Spartans took the final doubles match as Whitney Miles and Lourdes Moran defeated ASU’s team of freshman Monica Tomas (Valado De Frades, Portugal) and sophomore Frances Blanton (Raleigh, N.C.), 9-8 (2) at the No. 2 spot.

Appalachian won the first three singles match to clinch the win. Free started the winning with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Rychlik at No. 5 singles. Gugger followed with a 6-2, 6-3 defeat of Wade at the No. 1 position. Kirven clinched the match with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Moran at No. 4.

UNC Greensboro went on to win the final three singles matches.

The Mountaineers hit the road for their first road match in over two weeks as they head to Greenville, S.C. to take on league-leading Furman at 2:30 p.m.

Appalachian State (ASU) 4, UNC Greensboro (UNCG) 3
ASU Stadium Tennis Courts
Doubles
1) Free/Gugger (ASU) def. Wade/Rychlik (UNCG), 8-2
2) Miles/Moran (UNCG) def. Tomas/Blanton (ASU), 9-8 (2)
3) Kirven/Moody (ASU) def. Templeton/Zabkar (UNCG), 8-2
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2

Singles
1) Anja Gugger (ASU) def. Emily Wade (UNCG), 6-2, 6-3
2) Whitney Miles (UNCG) def. Monica Tomas (ASU), 7-5, 2-6, 10-7
3) Erica Zabkar (UNCG) def. Victoria Moody (ASU), 6-2, 6-2
4) Salem Kirven (ASU) def. Lourdes Moran (UNCG), 6-3, 6-1*
5) Lyndsey Free (ASU) def. Sophie Rychlik (UNCG), 6-1, 6-1
6) Sarah Templeton (UNCG) def. Frances Blanton (ASU), 7-5, 6-3
*Clinching match
Order of Finish: 5, 1, 4, 3, 2, 6
Records: ASU 11-6, 4-3; UNCG 7-14, 2-7

 

Elon 7, Western Carolina 0

 

ELON, N.C. ? Elon claimed all nine matches against Western Carolina, recording a 7-0 Southern Conference women's tennis victory Sunday afternoon at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.

The Phoenix (7-11 overall, 2-6 SoCon) collected doubles victories by Elizabeth Kernodle and Whitney Butcher at No. 1 (over Trish Hanson and Mariona Jane 8-4), Kelly Fleck and Melissa Holland at No. 2 (over Holly Stocks and Susanna Sjokvist 8-0) and Katie Nicholson and Alli Benton at No. 3 (by default).

In singles action, Fleck staved off Hanson 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 at No. 1, Kernodle turned back Sjokvist 6-1, 6-0 at No. 2, Holland foiled Jane 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 at No. 3, Butcher beat Stocks 6-0, 6-0 at No. 4, Benton bested Carley Abbott 6-1, 6-0 at No. 5 and Nicholson won by default at No. 6.

"I am so proud of our girls' performances in this big conference win," said Phoenix coach Elizabeth Perry. "It was also nice to have all of the support of our parents and fans in attendance at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center today."

Elon visits Wofford for its Southern Conference regular-season finale at 2 p.m. Wednesday. The Lady Catamounts (3-16, 0-8) will host Chattanooga for its SoCon regular-season finale at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.