College of Charleston 5, Samford 2
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The Samford University women's tennis team lost at home for the first time this season Saturday as the Bulldogs dropped a 5-2 decision against the College of Charleston Cougars in the teams' Southern Conference opener held at the Samford Tennis Center.
With the loss, Samford (6-3, 0-1 SoCon) had its five-match home winning streak snapped as well as its two-match overall winning streak. The Bulldogs fell to 5-1 when playing at the Samford Tennis Center this season.
College of Charleston (4-4, 1-0 SoCon), which has already faced four nationally-ranked opponents this season, was able to get back on the winning track Saturday. Prior to their SoCon opener with Samford, the Cougars were defeated 7-0 by the 38th-ranked Gamecocks on Wednesday.
In Saturday's match held in Birmingham, Ala., College of Charleston won the doubles point and then picked up singles wins on the top four courts. The battles on the top two singles courts proved to be the decisive matches as the Cougars were able to hold on for three-set victories in each duel.
Samford's singles wins occurred on courts No. 5 and No. 6 on Saturday. In the No. 5 singles contest, the Bulldogs' Rebecca Kirven improved her unblemished record on the season to 9-0 with a 7-5, 6-4 triumph against College of Charleston's Laura Borza.
On court No. 6, Samford's Lindsey Mallory extended her winning streak to three-consecutive matches with a 6-1, 6-1 victory against the Cougars' Anna Lee Evans.
Furman 4, UNC Wilmington 3
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Senior Monica Arguello won a hard-fought, four-hour match at number one singles to lead the Furman women's tennis team to a 4-3 win over UNC Wilmington Saturday at the Mickel Tennis Center in Greenville, S.C.
The Seahawks opened the match with wins in two out of three close doubles matches to win the doubles point. Christina Lee and Lindsay Leblang defeated Arguello and freshman Michele Stanford 8-6 at number two doubles, before Paladin junior Jennifer Betts and freshman Olivia Maurice won a 9-8(5) match over Hartley Collins and Chelsea Kahle at number three doubles to even the match. Furman senior Jessica Preeg and freshman Lauren Kline pushed Kayla Schwenk and Christian Riley to a tie-breaker at number one doubles, but couldn't hold on for the win, as the Seahawks chalked up a 9-8(3) victory.
In singles action, Furman's Betts defeated Collins 6-3, 6-0 in the number six singles position to tie the team score at 1-1. UNC Wilmington's Leblang defeated Preeg 6-2, 6-3 at number four singles, and Riley posted a 6-3, 6-4 win over Stanford in the number five singles match to give the Seahawks a 3-1 lead.
Furman rose to the challenge, with sophomore Susan Bitetti beating Casey Dashiell 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 at number five singles, and Kline defeating Schwenk 7-5, 6-1 in the second singles match to tie the team score at 3-3. Arguello then recorded a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 win over Lee at number one singles to clinch the match for the Paladins.
"I was really proud of our team today," said Paladin head coach Debbie Southern. "When we were down 3-1, the players didn't panic, and they took it one point at a time. I was extremely proud of the courage and heart Monica showed in her match, as it was a very hard-fought match on both sides of the court. UNC Wilmington is a very good, competitive team, so this was a good win for us."
Furman (4-4) will play at Florida Atlantic on March 11 at 1 p.m.
UAB 6, Georgia Southern 1
ATLANTA, Ga. - Completing this two-game road swing, junior Ashley Hungerford recorded a straight set victory at the four singles seed, but could not lead the Eagles past UAB Saturday afternoon (Feb. 27) at Piedmont Park. Georgia Southern suffered a 6-1 loss to the Blazers, falling to 4-4 on the season. Meanwhile, UAB improved to 5-2 with the win.
Drawing the doubles point to the final court, the Blazers captured a hard fought early advantage with two wins. Paula Alvarez and Jenny Cape first walked off the courts carrying an 8-1 win from the three seed, before Kristi Kegerreis and Hungerford evened the doubles point with a win at No. 2. The Eagle pair erased a 4-1 deficit to down Richole Berger and Menanteau Moolman, 8-5, leaving the early advantage at the top doubles court. Ali Beavers and Natalie Maffett paired at the top seed and reversed a 6-2 deficit to Giorgia Romeo and Evelien Strijker into a 7-6 advantage, but fell in a tiebreak, 9-8(6), securing the doubles point to the visiting team.
Three straight set victories clinched the match for UAB in singles action. Alvarez completed singles play first for the Blazers, defeating Maffett from the No. 2 position, 6-1, 6-2, before Berger pushed the team to within one point with a 6-3, 6-2 decision from No. 6. Romeo clinched the win for the Blazers competing at the No. 3 seed. The junior defeated Kegerreis, 6-4, 6-3, to secure the win.
Following Kegerreis, Hungerford recorded the lone Eagle win of the afternoon from the four seed. Hungerford dropped only three games en route to a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Moolman.
UAB rounded out competition with singles wins from the one and five seeds, respectively, for the final 6-1 score.
Georgia Southern completed the road swing in Atlanta and returns home, Saturday, March 6 to open Southern Conference play against Western Carolina at 11 a.m. The match is the first of six straight at the Hanner Tennis Complex for Georgia Southern.
East Carolina 5, Wofford 2
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Wofford women's tennis team was defeated in a hard fought match against East Carolina University by a score of 5-2. With the loss the Terriers fall to 1-6 on the year while East Carolina improves to 8-3.
The East Carolina Pirates jumped out to an early lead by winning all three doubles matches to gain a 1-0 advantage going into singles play.
In singles play the Pirates won the first two matches of the day at number four and six singles to push their lead to 3-0. The Terriers responded with a victory at number two singles. Haley Baird defeated Audrey LePottier 6-4, 6-2.
East Carolina clinched the match with a hard fought win at number one singles. Jessica Cook defeated Sabrina Smyers. Cook won the first set 6-4 but Smyers rallied to win the second set 6-1. In the third set Cook won 6-1 to give the pirates a 4-1 lead.
The final two matches of the day also went to three sets. The Terriers won the number five singles match when Stephanie Cox defeated Brooke Walter. Cox lost the first set 6-4 but came back to win the second set 7-5. Cox was winning the third set 4-0 when Walter retired due to an injury. In the last match of the day Guinn Garcia was defeated by Natalie Collins 6-4, 1-6, 6-1.
The Terriers will be back in action on Monday, March 1 at 3:00 pm when they will take on East Tennessee State at the Reeves Tennis Center on the Wofford College Campus.