Samford 6, Furman 1
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The Samford University women's tennis team handed the Furman Lady Paladins their first Southern Conference regular-season loss in over 11 years Saturday as the Bulldogs fought to a 6-1 triumph at the Samford Tennis Center. The defeat snapped Furman's 100-match SoCon winning streak in regular-season play.
In Saturday's momentous victory, Samford (10-5, 2-1 SoCon) won the doubles points and received key singles wins from Andrie Meiring, Madelie Janse van Rensburg, Stephanie Parkison, Rebecca Kirven and Lindsey Mallory. The triumph also improved the Bulldogs' record at home this season to 8-2.
With the loss, Furman (9-6, 2-1 SoCon) had its six-match winning streak snapped. The Lady Paladins' most recent defeat occurred against six-ranked Duke on Feb. 21.
Furman has been the perennial champions of the SoCon since the 1990s and has earned the previous 10 regular-season titles. The 2010 campaign marks Samford's second season as a member of the prestigious conference.
The Bulldogs earned Saturday's doubles point with victories on courts No. 1 and No. 2. In the No. 1 matchup, Samford's combination of Mallory and Morgan topped Furman's Jessica Preeg and Lauren Kline, 8-5, while the Bulldogs' duo of Kirven and Meiring rallied for a 9-7 win in the No. 2 doubles matchup.
In singles play, Samford earned victories on courts No. 2 - No. 6. The Bulldogs' Meiring, Janse van Rensburg and Mallory all tallied straight-set wins; while Parkison and Kirven outlasted their Lady Paladin counterparts in clutch three-set matches.
The clinching point in Saturday's triumph occurred at the No. 6 position where Samford's Mallory earned a 6-2, 6-3 victory against Furman's Jennifer Betts. With the win, Mallory improved to 9-5 in singles play this season.
Davidson 6, Georgia Southern 1
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Junior Alison Rauh and sophomore Stephani Synn (Conover, N.C.) each pushed their singles winning streak to three straight, and Davidson evened its Southern Conference record with a 6-1 triumph over visiting Georgia Southern in women¹s tennis on a sunny Saturday morning at the Covington Tennis Courts.
Davidson (9-5, 2-2 SoCon) regrouped after dropped a 5-2 decision to College of Charleston last time out, by taking five of the six singles matches as well as two of the three doubles matches.
Rauh and Synn helped the 'Cats get the doubles point to start things off by taking an 8-2 decision at No. 2 for their seventh win as a pair and run their SoCon mark to 3-1.
Winning their team-best eight doubles match and sealing the doubles win was the senior pair of Teresa Wang and Virginia Berry as they captured an 8-4 win at No.1 over GSU's (8-7, 3-3 SoCon) Ali Beavers and Natalie Maffett.
The two team doubles wins for Davidson evened their overall mark at 21-21.
Those four then carried their strong play into singles as they earned wins at the No. 1-4 positions. Berry evened her league mark to 2-2 (8-5 overall) with a three-set win at No. 1 vs. Beavers. After dropping the first set, 6-2, she rattled off two 6-1 wins in the next two sets.
Wang earned a clean two-set sweep at No. 2 (6-2, 6-0), while Synn and Rauh also took home a pair of two-set wins. Synn remained unbeaten in league play and won her team-high 10th singles decision with a 7-5, 6-2 at the No. 3 spot. Rauh evened her singles mark at 7-7 (3-1 SoCon) with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Jessica Fuller at No. 4.
Rounding out the Wildcats' lineup with the final point was junior Samantha Galainena, who needed an extra set for her eighth singles win of the year. She took the first set, 6-1, but fell in the next one by the identical score. She came back though, and brought home a 6-4 win in the final set.
Chattanooga 6, Wofford 1
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's tennis team defeated Wofford 6-1 at the UTC Tennis Courts today. The Lady Mocs post back-to-back wins for the first time this season and improve to 6-9 on the year and 2-3 in Southern Conference action.
UTC jumped out to a 1-0 lead by taking the doubles point for the sixth straight match. Freshman Jenna Nurik and sophomore Shaina Singh won their seventh consecutive doubles match, defeating Lucy Schermerhorn and Sabrina Smyers 8-3.
Junior Annie Green and senior Beata Knizat also battled to an 8-6 win over Stephanie Cox and Lindsay Larkin. It was their fifth straight doubles win as they improve to 5-0 as a tandem in the spring.
Nurik continued her hot streak with a win at No. 1. She won the first set 6-0 against Sabrina Smyers before Smyers pulled out during the second set due to an injury. It was Nurik's sixth consecutive win at No. 1 singles as she improves to 17-6 on the year. She is 10-5 in dual match action and 3-2 in SoCon matches.
Sophomore Charlotte Bossy put Chattanooga up 3-0 with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Lucy Schermerhorn at No. 5. It was Bossy's fourth straight singles win a she improves to 7-12 on the year and 5-6 in dual match action.
Cox scored the Terriers' only point with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Grace Robinette at No. 4. Singh clinched the match with a 6-4, 6-3 win against Haley Baird at No. 2. Knizat won her No. 6 match 6-3, 6-3 over Lindsay Larkin. Hangstefer capped off the afternoon with a three-set battle against Guinn Garcia. Hangstefer came away with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 victory for her 13th singles win of the season.
Wofford fall to 1-14 on the season and 0-4 in SoCon play with the loss. Chattanooga is back in action tomorrow when they host Furman (9-6, 2-1 SoCon) at the UTC Tennis Courts.
UNC Greensboro 6, Western Carolina 1
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - UNC Greensboro won three out of four matches in decisive third sets to stave off Western Carolina's hopes of an upset and come up away with a 6-1 win over the Catamounts in Southern Conference women's tennis action Saturday afternoon.
Stephanie MacFarlane won her fourth straight singles match and Annette Rios held on for her team-best 16th win of the season to seal the victory. MacFarlane, playing at No. 2 singles, defeated Amanda Massey 6-2, 0-6, 6-3, as she won for the seventh time in the last 10 matches. Rios topped Karen Jimenez Sarmiento, 7-6, 1-6, 6-4, at No. 5 singles.
Valerie Behr also won in three sets at No. 3 singles, while Jessica Eblen and Alex Whitehead had much easier times in straight-set victories for the Spartans (7-6, 2-2).