Furman 5, Georgia Southern 2
STATESBORO, Ga. - Junior Melanie Rolle extended her win streak to seven matches with a straight set win over Jessica Preeg and helped clinch the doubles point, but could not lead Georgia Southern past Furman. The Eagles suffered their first conference loss of the season with a 5-2 loss to the Paladins, who picked up their first conference win Saturday morning at the Hanner Tennis Complex. Both teams stand at 8-5 overall with GS owning a 3-1 Southern Conference mark, while the Paladins moved to 1-0 in league play.
The teams battled for the doubles point with GS taking the early lead with two wins. Seniors Kristi Kegerreis and Christine Caforio finished play first recording an 8-6 victory over Jennifer Betts and Olivia Maurice from the three seed. With the first doubles win, the Eagles clinched the point with a hard-fought win at No. 2. Rolle and Ashley Hungerford edged Monica Arguello and Michele Stanford, 9-7, for the early point. Furman closed out doubles play picking up a win at the top seed. Jessica Preeg and Lauren Kling survived a 9-7 decision over Ali Beavers and Natalie Maffett.
Despite carrying the momentum over from doubles play, Georgia Southern dropped four of six first sets as Furman took the early lead in singles competition. Arguello and Betts wins from No. 1 and No. 6, respectively, put the Paladins in front, 2-1. But Rolle evened the match notching her eighth dual match singles win of the season coming from No. 3. The junior downed Preeg in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, for a 2-2 overall match score.
Furman quickly took control again, 3-2, with a Kline win over Maffett at No. 2. The straight set win allowed Stanford to clinch the match at the four seed with her win over Kegerreis. Stanford defeated the Eagle, 6-4, 6-3, to secure the conference win, while Susan Bitetti rounded out the match with a three-set win over Hungerford at No. 5.
College of Charleston 5, Davidson 2
DAVIDSON, N.C. - College of Charleston womens' tennis kept its perfect Southern Conference record in tact on Saturday with a 5-2 victory over Davidson at the Covington Tennis Courts.
CofC (12-8, 5-0 SoCon) swept the doubles matches to take an early 1-0 lead. Junior Kinsey Casey paired up with freshman Irene Viana at the top spot to defeat Wilcats' Virginia Berry and Teresa Wang 8-3. Seniors Laura Borza and Anna Lee Evans won their third conference doubles match at the No. 2 spot with an 8-5 victory. Senior Holly Dowse and sophomore Caroline Newman teamed up for the first time this season for an 8-1 victory at the No. 3 spot.
Four Cougars earned singles victories in straight sets. Dowse picked up her seventh win as the No. 1 seed with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Berry. Newman competed in the second spot, earning a 6-3, 6-2 win over Wang to move to 14-5 on the year. Both Dowse and Newman remain undefeated in singles action against league opponents.
Borza and junior Keely Mulligan also earned victories at the No. 5 and 6 spots, respectively. Viana, who competed at the No. 4 spot, forced her opponent to a third set after rebounding from a 6-4 loss in the first set to capture the second set 6-2. She eventually yielded a 10-7 decision to Alison Raugh in the third set.
The Wildcats dropped to 8-5 overall and 1-2 in the Southern Conference.
Appalachian State 5, Wofford 2
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Wofford women's tennis team lost to visiting Appalachian State 5-2 on Saturday afternoon at the Reeves Tennis Center. The loss drops the Terriers to 1-12 on the year and 0-2 in the Southern Conference. Appalachian State improves to 7-5 on the year.
The Mountaineers took an early lead by winning all three doubles matches to give themselves a 1-0 advantage moving into singles play.
Appalachian State won the first match in singles play to push their lead to 2-0. The Terriers responded when Stephanie Cox defeated Caroline Mauch 6-0, 6-3 at number three singles. The Moutaineers won the next singles match to push their lead to 3-1. Guinn Garcia defeated Olivia Stannard 7-5, 6-3 at number three singles to close the gap for the Terriers. Appalachian State won the final two singles match to clinch a 5-2 victory.
Samford 4, Tulane 3
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The Samford University women's tennis team picked up its biggest non-conference victory of the 2010 season Saturday as the Bulldogs knocked off the 67th-ranked Tulane Green Wave, 4-3, at home at the Samford Tennis Center.
With the win, Samford (9-5) earned its first victory against a ranked opponent this season and improved its record at home to 7-2. The Bulldogs have rattled off two straight wins at the Samford Tennis Center with their last home setback being a hard-fought 4-3 loss to Georgia State on March 5.
Tulane (8-7), which was the 67th-ranked team in the nation heading into Saturday's match, suffered its third straight defeat. On Wednesday, the Green Wave dropped a similar 4-3 decision against LSU in Baton Rouge, La., before falling short in yet another 4-3 heartbreaking setback Thursday versus 35th-ranked Purdue at the Goldring Tennis Complex.
Samford picked up Saturday's key doubles point as the Bulldogs' tandem of Rebecca Kirven and Andrie Meiring outlasted Tulane's combination of Lindsay Dvorak and Emma Helisten for the critical 9-7 win to clinch the point. Samford earned its opening doubles victory on court No. 1 as Lindsey Mallory and Taylor Morgan cruised to an 8-3 triumph.
The Bulldogs closed out their 4-3 victory Saturday with singles wins from Meiring, Madelie Janse van Rensburg and Mallory. The clinching victory occurred on court No. 6 where Mallory rallied for a 7-6(4), 0-6, 6-2, triumph against the Green Wave's Hila Elster. With Mallory's victory, Samford clinched the thrilling 4-3 win and the Bulldogs' sophomore improved to 8-5 this season.
Samford's first two singles victories occurred on courts No. 2 and No. 3. The Bulldogs' Meiring tallied a 6-3, 6-1 win in the No. 2 singles match, while Janse van Rensburg outlasted Elizabeth Hamlin on court No. 3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.
With their respective victories, Meiring and Janse van Rensburg both improved to 7-6 on the season in singles play.
The Samford University women's tennis team will next be in action March 27 at noon (CDT) as the Bulldogs resume Southern Conference play with a home matchup against the Furman Paladins at the Samford Tennis Center.
UAB 4, Chattanooga 3
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The Chattanooga women's tennis team dropped its Saturday afternoon match against the University of Alabama-Birmingham 4-3 on the UTC Tennis Courts. It was the second straight 4-3 loss for the Lady Mocs at home and the fourth time this year Chattanooga has dropped a one-point match.
With the loss, the Lady Mocs drop to 4-8 overall while the Blazers improve to 8-5 on the season.
UTC started strong by taking the doubles point, keyed by a dominating 8-2 win by Jenna Nurik and Shaina Singh at No. 2. Emily Hangstefer and Charlotte Bossy fell 8-4 after keeping it close throughout the early part of the match, leaving it to Annie Green and Beata Knizat to close it out.
The pair led the majority of the match, but it took 14 games for UTC to clinch the doubles point when Knizat held serve for the eighth and deciding point.
The Lady Mocs would not earn another point, however, until the match had already been decided. The Blazers won at the six, four, three and two spots in order to claim the first four singles points before Nurik clinched her fourth straight victory at No. 1.
The freshman dropped the first set, 6-4, before rallying to claim the next two decisively, 6-3 and 6-0. With the come-from-behind victory, Nurik moved to 6-0 in three matches this week with the singles and doubles combined.
Bossy also earned a two-set victory, winning 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (8-6). She and her UAB counterpart, Brittany DeFelice, were the last ones on the courts, and Bossy used an enthusiastic cheering section to pull through. Trailing 6-2 in the second-set tiebreaker, she reeled off six straight points to get the win.
The Lady Mocs are back at home on the UTC Tennis Courts Wednesday, March 24 against Lee University. The match is set for 2 p.m. at the Champions Club in a doubleheader with the men's teams.