Wofford 5, Presbyterian 2
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -Behind strong singles play down the line, the Wofford women's tennis team picked up its first win of the year as they defeated the visiting Blue Hose of Presbyterian 5-2 on Thursday afternoon at the Reeves Tennis Center.
The Terriers opened doubles play with a win at No. 2 as the duo of Haley Baird and Sabrina Smyers took down Daryl Thompson and Virginia Waldron 8-3. Presbyterian answered right back with a win on court No. 3 where Cara Caruso and Paige Oelke defeated Sonia Anand and Kristin Demosthenes by a single service break 8-6.
The drama then unfolded and turned to court once as the Terriers needed a win to seal the doubles point. Tied at six all, both doubles teams of Cayley Wetzig and Ashley Lawrence for Wofford and Megan Davis and Abby Diminich of Presbyterian (2-10, 0-2 Big South) held serve to push the match to seven apiece. The Blue Hose broke serve to take an 8-7 advantage and were able to hold serve to close out the match 9-7 to steal the doubles point and take a 1-0 lead heading into singles play.
Wofford (1-6, 0-0 SoCon) did not let the confidence drop however and put together great efforts in singles play. Lawrence quickly evened the match at one apiece as she downed Megan Davis 6-1, 6-3. Wetzig gave the Terriers a 2-1 advantage as she rolled in straight sets at number one 6-4, 6-1. Baird won 6-3, 6-1 at No. 4 to give the Terriers a 3-1 advantage. Smyers then clinched the match for Wofford as she downed Caruso 6-1, 6-4. Anand picked up the final win of the day for the Terriers on court No. 5 as she held off Thompson 6-3, 7-6(4).
The Terriers will return to action on March 17 as they open Southern Conference play against Western Carolina. The match is slated for 3 p.m. at the Reeves Tennis Center in Spartanburg.
Woffords match against Coastal Carolina scheduled for Saturday March 14, has been postponed due to threat of inclement weather. The Terriers and Chanticleers have yet to reschedule the match.
San Diego 4, Furman 3
SAN DIEGO, Calif. ? In the first day of the University of San Diego Invitational, the Furman women’s tennis team fell 4-3 to the host San Diego Toreros on Thursday afternoon at the USD West Tennis Courts. The Lady Paladins (3-6) split the singles matches against the 50th-ranked Toreros, but USD (6-1) earned the critical doubles point, which proved the difference in the match.
San Diego picked up doubles victories at the number one and two positions to secure the point. Furman’s Jessica Preeg and Susan Bitetti improved to 4-2 on the season with an 8-3 win over Justine Perl and Maria Raygada.
Furman quickly evened the score as singles play got underway. No. 80 Monica Arguello rolled to a 6-0, 6-1 win over Samantha Mouly at number two. San Diego pushed the match back in the Toreros favor, scoring wins at number four and number six.
The Lady Paladins continued to battle as No. 7 Laura Gioia picked up a three-set win over Juliette Coupez at the top singles spot.
Gioia is 5-3 on the season and has won her last four matches. Furman senior Lauren Tomory followed Gioia’s win with a 7-5, 6-4 decision over Alexandra Demidova at number five to force a deciding match at number three singles. In another three-set match, Torero sophomore Maja Sujica remained unbeaten on the season with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 win over Preeg to give USD the match decision.
Furman will be back in action Friday when the Lady Paladins battle Portland at 1 p.m. EST.