Elon 7, Appalachian State 0
ELON, N.C. - The Elon women's tennis team stretched its winning streak to seven straight with a 7-0 victory over the visiting Appalachian State Mountaineers in Southern Conference action from The Jimmy Powell Tennis Center on Wednesday afternoon. Elon has shutout its last three opponents and is 12-3 overall, 3-0 in the league. This is the first time a Phoenix women's tennis program has opened conference play with three consecutive wins and Elon is now just one win away from tying its win total from all of last year.
In doubles action, Paige Kensrue and Lauren Sessoms came up huge for the Phoenix on court two. After the teams split matches at number one and three, Kensrue and Sessoms found themselves down 7-4 to Laura Janke and Blakeley Bean. The tandem battled back and won the next five games to secure the 9-7 win and the doubles point for Elon. Kensrue and Sessoms have won their last three matches. Senior Anna Milian and sophomore Elisa Simonetti continued their winning ways with a dominating 8-1 victory over Ellie Linsell and Olivia Stannard. The pair is an impressive 11-2 on the season and has won ten straight at number one doubles.
Simonetti was the first off the court in singles action, cruising to a 6-0, 6-0 win against Stannard at number three. Simonetti owns a six-match winning streak, the second-best on the team. Milian followed with a 6-1, 6-3 defeat of Linsell at number one to improve to 12-2 on the year.
Senior Hayley Wahl moved to 4-0 on the season with a 6-4, 6-4 result against Janke at number six to clinch the match for Elon. Kensrue took a 7-5, 6-2 win over Jennifer Ansari at number two and Sessoms was victorious over Bean, 7-6 (4), 6-3. Freshman Briana Berne concluded the Phoenix sweep with a 6-3, 7-6 (4) defeat of Caroline Mauch.
Elon will be on the road for the next two matches, beginning with a trip to Statesboro, Ga. to battle Georgia Southern on Monday, March 22. The match is set to begin at 2 p.m.
College of Charleston 6, UMass 0
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - College of Charleston women's tennis swept Massachusetts in singles and claimed a 6-0 victory in a match that was shortened due to bad weather on Wednesday afternoon at Patriots Point. The Cougars evening match against Presbyterian College was also cancelled.
Sophomore Caroline Newman earned the first point for Charleston (11-8, 4-0 SoCon) with a 6-1, 6-0 win at the No. 3 spot. Newman set the tone for the team who followed with victories at the 1, 2, 5, 4 and 6 spots, respectively. Doubles matches were cancelled to due rain.
Senior Laura Borza and junior Keely Mulligan won their second singles matches in as many days. Mulligan recorded a 7-5, 6-2 victory as the sixth seed while Borza came back from losing the first set, 6-4, to win the next two 6-0, 10-5.
The Cougars recorded their fourth sweep this season. Head coach Angelo Anastopaulo's squad has also blanked conference foe Western Carolina as well as non-conference opponents Charlotte and Case Western.
Massachusetts falls to 4-6 on the year with the loss. The team is currently scheduled to play Presbyterian College at 10 a.m. on Thursday at Patriots Point.
The match against PC will not be made up due to scheduling conflicts. College of Charleston returns to its conference slate this weekend with a two-match road trip to Davidson and Appalachian State.
UNC Asheville 7, Western Carolina 0
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - The Western Carolina women's tennis team dropped their match with UNC Asheville, 7-0, on Wednesday afternoon at the Catamount Athletic Complex. The Catamounts (1-7) have lost seven matches in a row, while UNC Asheville improves to 7-4.
WCU lost the doubles point after Cats' duo Amanda Massey and Katie Barry fell 0-8 to UNC-A's Britney Cloer and Nicole Schon. The Bulldogs' Louise Bottomley and Devon Cavanaugh defeated Izabella Glinska and Emily Turke, 8-0. In the number one doubles spot, WCU fell 3-8 as Leslie Smith and Stephanie Schon combined to defeat Ainhoa Iglesias Díaz and Karen Jiménez Sarmiento.
Glinska, the junior from Toronto, Ontario, battled but fell 8-6 in the tiebreaker and lost 7-6 in set one. Glinska dropped set two, 6-3. Iglesias Díaz fell in straight sets, 1-6, 4-6, to Stephanie Schon.
In set three, UNC-A's Cloer defeated Jiménez Sarmiento, 6-0, 6-1. Graduate student Emily Turke fell 2-6, 0-6 in straight sets to Nicole Schon. Meanwhile, Katie Barry dropped her point in consecutive sets to the Bulldogs' Sarah Brinkley, 0-6, 1-6.
The sixth match was forfeited by Western Carolina.
The Catamounts resume non-conference action at Atlantic-10 rival Charlotte on Friday afternoon. The match is scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. start.