Chattanooga 5, Elon 2
ELON, N.C. - Strong play in doubles action was not enough for the Elon women's tennis team to pull out a victory over Chattanooga today, Feb. 27, falling 5-2 at The Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. The Lady Mocs improved their season record to 3-4 (1-1 SoCon), while the Phoenix is currently 4-6 (0-2 SoCon).
Freshman Andrea Pont Grau and Briana Berne started off strong against Charlotte Bossy and Annie Green on court three. The Elon pair jumped out to a 4-1 lead, but the duo from UTC won two of the next three games to close the Phoenix lead to only 5-3. Pont and Berne went on a three-game surge to win 8-3 for their second doubles victory in as many days.
After being swept yesterday by the number one Samford pair, freshmen Jordan Johnston and Viviana Stavreva were determined to get a win against UTC's Alexa Flynn and Emily Hangstefer. Johnston/Stavreva went up 7-2 before a late surge by Flynn/Hangstefer made the match 7-4. The Phoenix prevailed, 8-4, to clinch the doubles point over the Lady Mocs with one doubles match still in play.
Freshmen Frida Jansaker and Bryn Khoury were defeated by Jenna Nurik and Shaina Singh, 8-4, at number two, but Elon still owned the 1-0 advantage going into singles play.
Khoury, who played at number three, was the only Phoenix player to win her singles match on the day. The freshman easily defeated Hanstefer, 6-2, 6-2, increasing the Phoenix lead to 2-0.
Johnston played two close sets with Nurik on court one but was defeated 6-4, 7-5. At number two, Jansaker jumped out to an early 5-2 first-set lead over Flynn until the Lady Moc came back to tie it at six-all. The set was one by Flynn in a tiebreak and gave her the momentum to take the match 7-6 (4), 6-3. After falling 6-0 in the first set to Green on court six, senior Jessica Margolis took a strong 5-0 lead in the second set but was not able to come out victorious and eventually lost 6-0, 7-5.
With four singles matches completed and two still in progress, UTC had mounted a strong comeback and possessed a 3-2 lead over Elon.
The two most contested matches of the afternoon happened on courts four and five. At number five, Stavreva quickly took the first set 6-0 from Singh but lost the second 6-4. Stavreva remained with the Lady Moc game-for-game in the third set until she pulled away with another 6-4 victory and the match win. Singh's win clinched the match for UTC with play at number five still undecided.
Berne fell to Bossy in the first set, 6-4, and found herself down 3-0 early in the second. The Georgia native was able to tie the set up at six-all and win the tiebreak, 7-4. However, Berne could not grab the win over Bossy, losing 6-2 in the third set.
Furman 7, Georgia Southern 0
GREENVILLE, S.C .- The Furman women's tennis team blanked Georgia Southern, 7-0, to open the Southern Conference season Sunday afternoon at the Mickel Tennis Center in Greenville, S.C. The Paladins won all six singles matches and all three doubles matches for the victory.
Furman senior Monica Arguello, ranked 64th nationally, defeated Paola Garrio, 6-0, 6-0, in the top singles match. Paladin rookie Katherine Oudin recorded a 6-2, 6-1 win over Ali Beavers at number two singles, and sophomore Lauren Kline defeated Melanie Rolle, 6-0, 6-1 at number three singles. In the fourth singles match, freshman Margaret Boyette scored a 6-0, 6-1 win over Ashley Hungerford, while fellow freshman Amanda Murray defeated Allison Beeler, 6-0, 6-1 at number five singles. Sophomore Jenny Porter came from behind to defeat Alessandra Dzuba, 2-6, 6-0, 1-0 (10-4) in the sixth singles match.
Boyette and Oudin teamed up for an 8-1 win over Beavers and Garrido in the top doubles match-up, while Kline combined with sophomore Michele Stanford to defeat Hungerford and Rolle, 8-2, at number two doubles. Arguello and senior Jennifer Betts posted an 8-4 win over Mimi Bollaci and Beeler in the third doubles match.
UNCG 4, Samford 3
GREENSBORO, N.C. --- The 74th-ranked Samford University women's tennis team had its season-opening, six-match winning streak snapped Sunday as the Bulldogs fell short in a hotly-contested 4-3 Southern Conference decision against the UNC Greensboro Spartans on the road at the UNCG Tennis Center.
With the loss, Samford (6-1, 1-1 SoCon) suffered its first defeat of the 2011 campaign and dropped to 3-1 in road matches this season. On Saturday, the Bulldogs opened their SoCon schedule with an impressive 4-3 victory at Elon.
UNC Greensboro (4-1, 2-0 SoCon) extended its winning streak to four-consecutive matches Sunday. Since dropping a 6-1 decision at Virginia Tech on Jan. 30, the Spartans have rattled off consecutive victories against Coastal Carolina 5-2, East Carolina 5-2, Chattanooga 7-0 and Samford 4-3.
On Sunday, UNC Greensboro earned the all-important doubles point against Samford with wins on courts No. 1 and No. 2.
The Bulldogs were victorious in the No. 3 doubles contest as Madelie Janse Van Rensburg and Jessica Diamond defeated the Spartans' combination of Mikayla Rogers and Devon Sutherland, 8-6. Despite Samford's win on court No. 3, UNC Greensboro won the doubles point and took an early 1-0 lead in the match.
In singles play, the Bulldogs quickly evened the score at 1-1 with a victory from Andrie Meiring on court No. 2, 6-3, 6-3. With her singles win, Samford's Meiring improved her record on the season to an impressive 6-1 mark.
The teams then split singles victories on courts No. 3 and No. 4 to make the overall score of the match 2-2.
In the No. 4 contest, Samford's Kristin Lewis upended UNC Greensboro's Dilara Yurtkuran in straight sets 6-4, 6-2. Lewis, the Bulldogs' sophomore from Odenville, Ala., improved her record on the season to 6-1.
Following Lewis' win on court No. 4, which evened the score at 2-2, UNC Greensboro then clinched the overall match victory with back-to-back triumphs on courts No. 5 and No. 1, respectively. Samford closed out the SoCon contest with a 6-4, 6-3 win from Lindsey Mallory in the No. 6 singles matchup to make the final score 4-3.
Mallory, the Bulldogs' talented junior from Louisville, Ky., improved her singles record on the season to 6-1. She also extended her winning streak to five-consecutive matches.
Jacksonville 7, Western Carolina 0
JACKSONVILLE, FLA. - Tennis drops a match to Jacksonville by a score of 7-0 at the Keith Watson Family Tennis Complex Sunday afternoon. The victory keeps the Dolphins undefeated with a record of 6-0 and was the third time in four matches that Jacksonville has shutout its opponent. Western Carolina falls to 1-3 on the season.
A strong doubles performance by JU got the match headed in the wrong direction quickly for the Catamounts as the previously unbeaten duo of Iglesias Díaz and Laínez fell to Eve Castaing and Gabriella Bartos 8-3.
The Dolphins were able to pick up the doubles point by winning the second doubles 8-4. JU's Iwinski and Spencer picked up the win in the third doubles with an 8-5 win over Karen Jimenez and Katie Berry.
Jacksonville's Gabriela Bartos remained undefeated on the season in singles play by outlasting sophomore Carolina Laínez in three sets, 2-6, 7-6, 1-0.
Ainhoa Iglesias Díaz and Karen Jimenez fell in straight sets by scores of 6-1, 6-0 and 7-6, 6-3, respectively.
The Catamounts look to get back to their winning ways next week as WCU travels to Chattanooga, Tenn. for their first conference match against the Mocs on March 5 at 1:00 p.m.
Coastal Carolina 6, Wofford 1
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Wofford women's tennis team faced tough competition at Reeves Tennis Center Sunday afternoon, falling to Coastal Carolina 6-1. The Terriers won one doubles match and one singles match against the talented Chanticleer squad. Haley Baird won the singles match, giving the Terriers their only point and Emilia Milovanovic and Samantha Sullivan had the lone doubles win. The Terriers fall to a 7-4 record on the year. Coastal Carolina grabs their sixth straight win and tallies a 6-1 record on the season.
Emilia "Frenchie" Milovanovic and Samantha Sullivan were the first off the courts in doubles after grabbing the doubles win against Maria Hesketh and Kourtney Kowal, 8-6. The Chanticleers earned the doubles point after Lexi Bolesky and Mikaela Kristofersson beat Haley Baird and Guinn Garcia 8-6 at the one spot and Miki Bunea and Diana Mortlock defeated Sarah Evans and Julia Paulson 8-5 at the No. 2 slot.
Haley Baird had the only singles win of the day for the Terriers, pushing past Coastal's Kourtney Kowal at the No. 3 position. Baird finished the match in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. The senior captain grabs her third singles win straight with the victory and ties for second with Paulson on the team for most singles wins with seven.
The Chanticleers won the remainder of the singles matches. Bolesky defeated Milovanovic 6-2 in both sets at the top spot and Bunea beat Garcia 6-4, 6-0 at the No. 2 slot. Kristofersson beat Evans 6-1, 7-5 at the No. 4 position and Wofford's Julia Paulson lost to Mortlock 7-5, 6-0 at the No. 5. Wofford's Stephanie Cox lost to Amanda Malatek at the No. 6 spot, 6-2, 6-2.
The Terriers will stay at home for their next match against Gardner-Webb. The match is set to take place March 3rd at 2:00 p.m.