Davidson 6, Georgia Southern 1
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Ranked 66th nationally in the latest polls, Davidson won its sixth straight with a 6-1 victory over Georgia Southern in women's tennis action Saturday afternoon at Covington Tennis Courts. The Wildcats remain unbeaten at home (11-0) on the 2007 slate as they improve to 13-4 overall and 4-0 in the SoCon, while the Eagles fall to 5-7 and 2-2.
As they've done in each of their triumphs this season, Davidson jumped out to an early 1-0 team advantage by claiming the doubles point. The Wildcats swept the three tilts including a pair of matches by 8-0 decisions.
Kelsey Linville, like she did in partner's play, didn't drop a game as the Wildcat junior cruised by Molly Maddox, 6-0, 6-0. Freshman Virginia Berry ran her winning streak to eight and overall record to a team-best 13-2 with a 6-0, 6-2 defeat of GSU's Heather Reynolds.
Davidson's Teresa Wang and Kim Whelan also cruised by their opponents in straight sets, while Lora Dushanova upped her career SoCon mark to a perfect 14-0 with a three-set win over Emma Knight.
Georgia Southern's lone win came from Kristi Kegerreis, who defeated Michele Fanney, 6-3, 1-6, 10-8.
The Wildcats will continue their four-match homestand with a 2:30 p.m. contest with cross-county rival Charlotte Tuesday, March 27. Georgia Southern returns to the hardcourts tomorrow at league foe Western Carolina.
Furman 6, Chattanooga 1
Greenville, S.C. ? The Furman women’s tennis team remained unbeaten in Southern Conference play, defeating the visiting Chattanooga Lady Mocs, 6-1, at Mickel Tennis Center on Saturday afternoon. Furman (8-8, 4-0) has now won its last four matches and seven of its last eight. Chattanooga (4-12, 0-4) has yet to pick up a win in league action this year.
The Lady Paladins won the doubles point with victories at all three matches. Lisa Bornt-Davis and Lauren Tomory blanked Chattanooga’s Samantha Duggan and Celeste Nicholson, 8-0, at flight three. Lauren Osborne and Jacqueline Eckert followed suit with a shutout of Bonnie Adams and Beata Knizat at position two. Laura Gioia and Natasa Manojlovic earned an 8-4 victory over Anastasia Zhukova and Lindsey Ballard at the top spot.
In singles play, the most competitive match of the day was at the number one position, featuring Gioia and 46th-ranked Zhukova. After falling behind a set, 6-3, Gioia rebounded to take the second set, 6-2, before earning the overall victory by a score of 10-8 in the tiebreaker. At number two, Bonnie Baird topped Ballard, 6-1, 7-5, for her fourth consecutive victory. Manojlovic shutout Duggan, 6-0, 6-0, at number five and rookie Wanjiku Ngaruiya earned her first career dual-match victory with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Nicholson at number six. Eckert also remained undefeated in SoCon play with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Knizat at flight three.
Furman will be back in action on Wednesday, March 28 when it travels to Appalachian State at 2:30 p.m.
Houston 5, College of Charleston 2
Mt. Pleasant, S.C. ? The College of Charleston women’s tennis team dropped its match against the University of Houston by the score of 5-2 on Saturday at the Patriots Point Tennis Center in Mt. Pleasant, S.C. The loss snapped CofC’s three-match winning streak.
The victory improves Houston to 13-5, while Charleston drops to 11-5.
CofC won two out of the three doubles matches to earn one team point. The doubles team of Anna Lee Evans and Holly Dowse for Charleston got an 8-4 win over Neila Starratt and Vicky Simpson of Houston to gain their 11th win this season as a duo. The other Charleston doubles’ win came from the team of Chelsea Albertz and Link Leskosky, who defeated Lori Gomez and Sonja Nikolic of Houston, 8-4.
Laura Borza got Charleston’s lone win in singles action with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Starratt in the No. 4 singles match.
The Cougars will return to action on Mar. 25 against Appalachian State at Patriots Point beginning at 12:30 p.m.
UNC Greensboro 7, Western Carolina 0
CULLOWHEE, N.C. ? Western Carolina women’s tennis lost 7-0 to Southern Conference rival UNC-Greensboro 7-0 Saturday. The squad falls to 4-8 on the season and 0-4 in conference while UNC Greensboro improves to 7-6 and 2-2 in the Southern Conference.
Catamount Amanda Massey forced the Spartans Whitney Miles to a tiebreaker at No. 3 singles. After dropping the first game 6-2, Massey fought back to take game two 7-6(6) before losing in the tiebreaker 10-6.
Western Carolina returns to action on Sunday at home, when the Catamounts host Georgia Southern in Southern Conference action.