Elon 7, North Carolina A&T 0
ELON, N.C. - The Elon women's tennis team added another win to its season today, Feb. 23, after defeating North Carolina A&T 7-0 at The Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. The Phoenix won all six singles matches in straight sets and didn't let the Aggies win more than three games total in the three doubles matches. Elon improves to 4-4 on the season, while N.C. A&T falls to 0-6.
In doubles action, sophomore Briana Berne and freshman Andrea Pont Grau collected a dominating win at number three over Nianna Henry and Angelica Marshall, 8-0. At number two, freshman Frida Jansaker and senior Jessica Margolis only dropped one game to Victorea Austin and Kimberly Stalling, 8-1, at number two. In the number one spot, freshmen Jordan Johnston and Viviana Stavreva came out victorious over Azeib Nigatu and Kimberly Stalling, 8-2. The Phoenix went into singles play up 1-0 on the Aggies.
Berne was the first to wrap up her singles match, winning over Stalling 6-0, 6-1 at number three. Over on court six, junior Kaylyn Simalek won the first set in straight games against Henry and eventually won the match 6-0, 6-2. Jansaker returned to the number one position to take on Nigatu, who she beat 6-1, 6-1. Jansaker's win clinched the match 4-0 for Elon with three singles matches still in progress.
Pont Grau, who played at number four, picked up her first win of the season, 6-2, 6-0, against Austin to improve the Elon lead to 5-0.
Margolis highlighted the match at number five for the Phoenix by not dropping one game to Marshall and earning the victory 6-0, 6-0. Stavreva wrapped things up for Elon at number two defeating Cross 6-2, 6-1.
The Elon women's tennis team will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 26 at noon for its Southern Conference opener against Samford.
Samford 7, UAB 0
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The 74th-ranked Samford University women's tennis team extended its season-opening winning streak to five-consecutive matches Wednesday as the Bulldogs registered a 7-0 victory against the UAB Blazers in an intra-city rivalry held at the Samford Tennis Center.
With the win, Samford (5-0) remained undefeated at home and improved to 3-0 when competing in Birmingham. The Bulldogs have dominated their opponents this season and have outscored the competition by a total of 32-3.
UAB (1-3) suffered its third straight loss Wednesday. After opening the 2011 campaign with a 6-0 victory against Belmont, the Blazers have dropped consecutive matches versus Central Florida, No. 70 North Florida and Samford.
The Bulldogs earned Wednesday's doubles point by winning two of the three matches in the competition to take an early 1-0 lead.
In the No. 2 doubles contest, Samford's combination of Rebecca Kirven and Andrie Meiring breezed to an 8-0 triumph, while the Bulldogs' pairing of Madelie Janse Van Rensburg and Jessica Diamond tallied an 8-2 victory on court No. 3. With their win, Samford's duo comprised of Janse Van Rensburg and Diamond improved to a perfect 3-0 record in doubles play this season.
The Bulldogs swept all six matches in singles play to earn its decisive 7-0 victory.
Samford's Taylor Morgan, Meiring, Janse Van Rensburg, Kristin Lewis and Lindsey Mallory all cruised to straight-set wins Wednesday, while Kirven came from behind to tally a momentous 5-7, 7-5, 1-0 decision against UAB's Brittany DeFelice in the No. 5 singles contest.
With their wins, the Bulldogs' Janse Van Rensburg and Lewis both improved to a perfect 5-0 record this season, while Kirven, Mallory and Meiring all moved to 4-1 in singles play.