Furman 6, Georgia Southern 1
GREENVILLE, S.C. ? The Furman women’s tennis team picked up where it left off in Southern Conference action, defeating Georgia Southern, 6-1, under cool, windy conditions on Sunday afternoon at Mickel Tennis Center. The Lady Paladins rebounded from a non-conference loss on Friday to improve to 9-7 overall and 4-0 in league action. Furman’s regular-season SoCon winning streak is currently at 92 matches. Georgia Southern fell to 10-5 on the season, 4-2 in the conference.
Furman won all but one match against the Eagles, including all three doubles contests. Senior Laura Gioia and sophomore Monica Arguello remained undefeated against league competition, rolling by Kristi Kegerreis and Ali Beavers, 8-1, at the top doubles position.
Gioia cruised to victory in singles action as well, defeating Kegerreis, 6-1, 6-0. Gioia, the 12th ranked singles player in the country, is undefeated in the SoCon this year and has recorded five straight wins. Fellow senior Lauren Tomory has been unstoppable as of late, extending her winning streak to 10 with a 6-0, 7-5 victory over Jessica Fuller at number five singles.
Arguello battled from a set down to remain unbeaten in league play with a 5-7, 6-0, 6-2 win over Beavers at position two. Junior Jessica Preeg and sophomore Jennifer Betts also picked up singles wins for the Lady Paladins.
Davidson 4, Samford 3
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Despite competing shorthanded with only five players Sunday, the Samford women’s tennis team nearly picked up a Southern Conference upset victory against the Davidson Wildcats at the Samford Tennis Center. The Bulldogs won the doubles point, but came up short in singles play in the 4-3 loss.
Samford (4-8, 1-3 SoCon) was forced to default in both the No. 3 doubles match and the No. 6 singles competition. Despite the disadvantage, the Bulldogs earned the doubles point with lopsided victories on courts No. 1 and No. 2.
Since Feb. 25, Samford has been competing without the services of starters Lindsey Mallory and Rebecca Kirven. Both players suffered leg injuries and are currently rehabbing in order to return to action later this season.
In Sunday’s No. 1 doubles competition, Samford’s combination of Taylor Morgan and Stephanie Parkison rallied past Davidson’s duo of Virginia Berry and Michele Fanney, 8-4, while the Bulldogs’ pair of Andrie Meiring and Jessica Diamond cruised to an 8-2 victory on court No. 2.
Samford’s doubles tandem of Diamond and Meiring remained undefeated on the season and extended its winning streak to seven-consecutive matches.
Following the Bulldogs’ dominant performance in doubles play, Davidson (8-8, 3-2 SoCon) rebounded with a stellar outing of its own in the singles competition.
The Wildcats earned initial victories on courts No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6, while the Bulldogs’ Morgan dominated Fanney in the No. 1 singles match, 6-0, 6-3, and Parkison breezed to a straight-set win against Alison Rauh on court No. 3, 6-2, 6-4.
With the overall score of the match deadlocked at 3-3, all eyes were focused on the No. 2 singles contest between Samford’s Meiring and Davidson’s Berry.
Meiring, the Bulldogs’ talented sophomore from Stellenbosch, South Africa, won the first set 6-4, but the Wildcats’ Berry rallied from behind to win the final two frames 7-5, 6-1. The setback was only Meiring’s second loss in her previous six outings.
With Berry’s singles victory, Davidson was able to hold on for the 4-3 win.
Chattanooga 6, Western Kentucky 1
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The Chattanooga women’s tennis team claimed a 6-1 win over Western Kentucky on a cold, overcast Sunday afternoon at the UTC Tennis Courts.
The Lady Mocs improved to 5-10 overall while the Lady Toppers drop to 9-5 on the year.
Chattanooga started one point up as Western Kentucky traveled with just five players. Emily Hangstefer put the Lady Mocs up 2-0 with a win over Margot Van Bussel at No. 3
Annie Green put the Lady Mocs up 2-0 with a straight sets win at the No. 5 spot. Emily Hangstefer earned a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 3 over Margot Van Bussel and Jennemieke van der Veek clinched the win with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Western Kentucky’s Jacomiey Feilzer at the No. 2 spot. Charlotte Bossy earned UTC’s fifth point with a 6-0, 7-5 over Jessi Brown at No. 4.
At the No. 1 spot Western Kentucky’s Marlou Van Bussel won the first set 6-2 and the Lady Mocs’ Shaina Singh came back to split the match with a 6-2 decision in the second set. Since the match was already decided in Chattanooga’s favor, the two played a super tiebreak with Van Bussel getting the win with a 10-6 decision.
In doubles action, Western Kentucky’s Van Bussel twins earned an 8-3 win at the No. 1 position over Bossy and van der Veek. However, with a point in their favor due to a forfeit at No. 3 by the Lady Toppers, the Lady Mocs claimed the doubles point with an 8-6 win at No. 2 by Hangstefer and Brianna Wishing over Feilzer and True.
The Lady Mocs will return to Southern Conference action with a Wednesday match against Samford at the UTC Tennis Courts at 2 p.m.