Furman 4, East Carolina 3
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Paladin sophomore Susan Bitetti defeated Yilian Zhang 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 at number five singles to lead the Furman women's tennis team to a 4-3 win over East Carolina Thursday afternoon at the Mickel Tennis Center.
The Pirates swept the doubles matches to open the match, with Jessica Cook and Audrey LePottier defeating freshman Lauren Kline and senior Jessica Preeg 8-6 at number one doubles. Petra Vogel and Zhang posted an 8-6 win over freshman Michele Stanford and junior Jennifer Betts at number two doubles, then Natalie Collins and Tamara Sachs clinched the point with a 8-7(7) victory over junior Monica Arguello and freshman Olivia Maurice in the third doubles match.
In singles action, Furman took a 3-1 lead with wins at number one, two and six. Arguello defeated Cook 6-1, 6-1 at number one, then Kline defeated LePottier 6-2, 6-3 in the second singles match. Betts posted a 6-1, 6-4 win over Sachs before the Pirates began to chip away at the Paladin lead. Collins defeated Preeg 6-4, 7-5 in the number three match, then Vogel tied the match with a 7-6(4), 6-1 win over Stanford to set up Bitetti's winning match.
The Paladins (7-5) will open the Southern Conference season Saturday at 11 a.m. at Georgia Southern. Furman won its tenth consecutive SoCon regular-season title last season. Not only have the Paladins won ten straight regular-season league titles, they have done it in perfect fashion. Furman has not lost a match to a conference opponent in the regular season since the 1998-99 season. The winning streak is currently at 98 matches.
UNC Greensboro 6, Gardner-Webb 1
GREENSBORO, N.C. - UNC Greensboro snapped a four-match losing skid by sweeping all three doubles matches and winning five of the six singles matches, claiming a 6-1 win over Gardner-Webb on Thursday afternoon at UNCG Tennis Courts.
Stephanie Macfarlane, Valerie Behr, Mikayla Rogers and Sasha Skripkina all claimed straight-set wins in singles action. Macfarlane, Rogers and Behr were double winners on the day, logging wins in their respective doubles wins, as well.
Annette Rios won her 15th match of the year by rallying from a set down, defeating Ronia Hutterli, 5-7, 6-4, 1-0 with a 10-2 score in the third-set tiebreaker. The freshman from Santa Ana, El Salvador is now 15-6 on the year, including an 8-3 mark this spring.
The Spartans return to action on Sunday when they visit in-state rival Charlotte for a 12 noon match.
Chattanooga 6, Tennessee Tech 1
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's tennis team scored a 6-1 win over Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, Tenn., this afternoon. The Lady Mocs grabbed their second win in three matches and first road victory of the season today.
Chattanooga improves to 4-8 on the season while the Golden Eagles are still looking for their first win at 0-5. UTC swept the doubles point for the third straight match. Freshman Jenna Nurik and sophomore Shaina Singh set the tone with an 8-2 win over Leydi Zora and Katie Barnhill. It was Nurik and Singh's fourth straight win at No. 2 doubles.
The Lady Mocs went on to take five of the six singles matches. Nurik recorded her third straight win at No. 1 and improves to 14-6 on the year. Her 14 wins lead the team.
Freshman Jennifer Taylor also won her third straight match today. She is second on the team with a 13-8 mark and is 6-1 in the spring when playing the No. 6 position.
"This was a good win for us," stated head coach Jeff Clark. "We grabbed the momentum early and never let it go. I was proud of how hard we competed and we now will look to build on our performance today."
Chattanooga will be back in action on Saturday, March 20, hosting UAB. Match time at the UTC Tennis Courts is set for 1:00 p.m. (E.D.T.). Live scoring of the bout with the Blazers will be available on GoMocs.com.