Memphis 4, Samford 2
Samford 4, Austin Peay 0
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Samford University women's tennis team split a pair of non-conference matches Saturday at the Wellworx Sporting Club as the Bulldogs dropped a 4-2 decision to the Memphis Lady Tigers before earning a 4-0 win against the Austin Peay Lady Govs.
Samford (4-1) suffered its lone loss of the spring season against Memphis (4-6) on Saturday. In the defeat, the Bulldogs won the doubles point with victories on courts No. 1 and No. 3, and earned a win in the No. 6 singles match.
Sophomore Rebecca Kirven, Samford's native of Windermere, Fla., tallied the Bulldogs' only victory in singles play as she breezed by Kelly Gray on court No. 6. So far this season, Kirven has tallied a perfect 5-0 record in singles play.
Memphis used wins in the top four singles matches to earn the victory. The win marked the second straight time that the Lady Tigers have defeated the Bulldogs by a 4-2 mark.
In Saturday's nightcap held at the Wellworx Sporting Club, Samford played to a relatively easy 4-0 win against Austin Peay (2-1). The Bulldogs earned the doubles point as Lindsey Mallory and Taylor Morgan cruised to an 8-1 victory on court No. 1 and Andrie Meiring and Kirven tallied an 8-3 triumph on court No. 2.
Samford closed out its 4-0 win against Austin Peay with a trio of straight-set victories in singles play. Senior Stephanie Parkison knocked off the Lady Govs' Michelle Liew on court No. 4, 6-2, 6-2, while Mallory breezed past her competitor in the No. 5 singles matchup.
In the No. 6 singles contest, Kirven extended her winning streak to five straight matches with a 6-2, 6-3 victory against Austin Peay's Yuki Nakamura.
The Samford women's tennis team will next be in action Thursday at 3:00 p.m. as the Bulldogs head to Starkville, Miss., for a non-conference matchup against Mississippi State
Davidson 4, Gardner-Webb 3
DAVIDSON, N.C. - The Davidson women's tennis team ran its win streak to four straight by closing out a four-match homestand with a 4-3 victory against Gardner-Webb on Saturday afternoon at the Knobloch Tennis Center.
After dropping all three doubles matches, the Wildcats (4-0) regrouped to take four of the six singles matches to remain perfect on the season. It's the best start since the 2003 squad rattled off wins in their first four matches to open the season.
Stephani Synn and Teresa Wang led the way in singles play as the sophomore and senior remained perfect on the season. They both improved to 3-0 with two straight set wins.
After dropping their doubles match together in a close 9-8 affair, both dominated in singles action. Synn captured a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 4, while Wang moved up from the No. 4 spot to play at No. 2 and scored a 6-2, 6-2 win over Loana Porea.
Sophomore Katharine Dicconson also stayed perfect in singles play with a 2-0 record by taking home a 6-2, 6-2 decision over Tavenner Black at No. 6.
Closing out the Wildcats final point in a thrilling three-set affair was senior Ali Gores. The senior opened with a 7-6 tiebreaker win, but saw Rita Gouveia come back and force another tiebreaker in the second set. Gores dropped that one, but charged back in the final set with a 6-3 win to give the Wildcats the winning match point.
Gardner-Webb earned its points by taking the doubles point, and earning singles wins at No.1 and 5, with the last one coming after the match had been decided. Ronia Hutterli earned a super tiebreaker win after splitting the first two sets with Samantha Galainena, who dropped her first singles match of the season.
Davidson will next take to the road for the first time this year when the Wildcats play Radford, Feb. 19 and Virginia Tech, Feb. 20.