Georgia Southern 4, Elon 3

 

ELON, N.C. ? Ali Beavers outslugged Paige Kensrue 6-7 (7-4), 6-2, 6-2 in a two-hour, 28-minute marathon at No. 2 singles, lifting Georgia Southern to a 4-3 triumph over Elon in the Southern Conference women’s tennis opener for both teams Saturday afternoon at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.

The Phoenix (4-6 overall, 0-1 SoCon) posted the first win of the day when Elisa Simonetti and Daleen Kloppers ousted Melanie Rolle and Christine Caforio 8-3 at No. 2 doubles. The Eagles (5-3 overall, 1-0 SoCon) evened the doubles standings when Shea Huxtable and Jessica Fuller fended off Melissa Wolf and Sally Wilkey 8-6 at No. 3.

Elon seized the doubles point when Kensrue and Anna Milian slid past Kristi Kegerreis and Ali Beavers 8-6 at No. 1. Simonetti toppled Molly Maddox 6-0, 6-2 in one hour, seven minutes at No. 3 singles to push the Phoenix lead to 2-0. Rolle turned back Wolf 6-2, 6-4 at No. 4 to put Georgia Southern on the board, but Milian foiled Kegerreis 6-4, 6-2 at No. 1 to extend the Elon edge to 3-1 with three bouts yet to be decided.

Fuller defeated Kloppers 6-1, 6-4 at No. 5 and Huxtable beat Wilkey 6-1, 7-5 at No. 6 to tie the score at 3-3 and set the scene for Beavers’ heroics. The Eagles will now head to UNC Greensboro for a SoCon battle at 11 a.m. Sunday. The Phoenix will slip in a nonconference match when Gardner-Webb visits Elon at 2 p.m. Wednesday.

 

 

Furman 7, Presbyterian 0

 

GREENVILLE, S.C. ? The Furman women's tennis team got back on the winning track with a 7-0 victory against Presbyterian College on Saturday afternoon at Mickel Tennis Center. The Lady Paladins (2-5) are 17-2 all-time against the Blue Hose. Presbyterian dropped to 2-7 on the season.

 

Furman's Lauren Tomory and Jennifer Betts played at the top doubles position for the first time this season, posting an 8-1 victory over Paige Oelke and Virginia Waldron. The duo improved to 2-2 on the season. At number two, Susan Bitetti and Jessica Preeg secured the doubles point for the Lady Paladins with an 8-4 win over Megan Davis and Abby Diminich. Monica Arguello and Brooke Mosteller followed suit with an 8-4 victory against Heather Isbell and Cara Caruso in the final match.

 

In singles action, Tomory didn't lose a game against Caruso at number four as the senior improved to 3-4 this season. Preeg, Betts and Arguello each only gave up one game in their respective singles matches. Freshmen Susan Bitetti and Brooke Mosteller earned their first career singles victories in dual play. Bitetti posted a 6-2, 6-5 win against Davis at number three and Mosteller secured a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Daryl Thompson at number six.

 

The Lady Paladins will be back in action Sunday when they challenge No. 64 Winthrop at 2 p.m. in Mickel Tennis Center.

 

 

Samford 4, North Florida 3

 

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The Samford University women’s tennis team picked up its first dual-match victory of the 2009 campaign Saturday as the Bulldogs rallied for a 4-3 home win against the North Florida (UNF) Ospreys at the Samford Tennis Center.

 

After losing the doubles point, Samford (1-2) received  critical singles victories from Taylor Morgan, Andrie Meiring, Rebecca Kirven and Stephanie Parkison to complete the come-from-behind win. Kirven’s three-set triumph in the No. 3 singles match proved to be the deciding factor.

 

With Saturday’s loss, UNF (3-1) dropped its first dual match of the 2009 season. Heading into their match against the Bulldogs, the Ospreys had won consecutive contests versus Georgia Southern 5-2, Missouri-Kansas City 7-0 and Florida A&M 6-1

 

Samford’s 4-3 victory Saturday was sparked by the team’s play in singles.

 

On court No. 1, Morgan knocked off UNF’s Aline Berkenbrock in straight sets 6-4, 6-2. The Bulldogs’ Meiring also earned a straight-set victory by defeating Raquel Castro 7-5, 6-2 on court No. 2. Samford’s Parkison earned the third point of the day with a 6-3, 6-4 win against the Osprey’s Lauren Holton on court No. 5.

 

The overall score of the match was deadlocked at 3-3 when the Bulldogs’ Kirven outlasted UNF’s Nikita van Lierop on court No. 3.

 

The Samford University women’s tennis team will next be in action Sunday at 9 a.m., as the Bulldogs travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for a non-conference matchup against the Alabama Crimson Tide. The match will be held at the UA Tennis Stadium.

 

 

East Carolina 7, Wofford 0

 

GREENVILLE, N.C. -  The Wofford women's tennis team was defeated 7-0 on Saturday morning in Greenville, N.C. by the Pirates of East Carolina.  East Carolina improves to 4-1 on the year while the Terriers stand at 0-4.

 

The Terriers opened the day welcoming back freshman Ashley Lawrence to the starting lineup  after missing the first three matches of the year due to injury.  However, with the added addition to the lineup, the Terriers were unable get things going in the doubles portion of the match. 

 

Cayley Wetzig and Sabrina Smyers played their fourth straight match together but were unable to come away with a victory as the duo fell 8-2 at the No. 1 position to Jessica Cook and Varinia Soler.  On court No. 2 and No. 3, the Pirates matched the score of 8-2 on court No. 1 to take all three doubles matches and a 1-0 lead heading into singles play.

 

East Carolina continued to take control in singles play as they took all six singles matches in which five came from straight set victories.  Haley Baird put up a tough fight on court No. 3 but was unable to prevail as she was defeated in three sets, 2-6, 6-1 and 1-0 (10-7).

 

The Terriers return to the court on Saturday February 28, in Charlotte, N.C. as they take on the 49ers of UNC Charlotte.

 

 

Jacksonville State 5, Chattanooga 2

 

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The Chattanooga women’s tennis team fell 5-2 to Jacksonville State and the Mocs dropped a 5-2 decision as well to the Gamecocks Saturday afternoon at the Hixson Racquet Club.

 

Jacksonville State (4-1) swept the doubles point in women’s action to go up 1-0 on the Lady Mocs. In singles action, the Lady Mocs claimed a pair wins.

 

Chattanooga’s (2-6) Jennemieke van der Veek posted a 6-2, 6-1 win over Juliana Renesto at the No. 2 position and Emily Hangstefer defeated Raphaela Wenzel 6-0, 6-2 at the No. 3 spot.

 

Brianna Wishing dropped her first set at no. 5 by a 6-3 margin then came back to tie it up with a 6-2 decision in the second game before falling 6-3 in the final.

 

Martina Desbessel defeated Shaina Singh 7-6(3), 6-0 at the No. 1 position and Eloah Lopes claimed a 6-3, 6-3 win over Annie Green at No. 4. Kristen Fuller got past Brianna Wishing in three sets 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 and Laura Lunch defeated Kate Ksiezopolski 6-3, 6-4 at No. 6.