College of Charleston 7, Wofford 0
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The No. 71-ranked College of Charleston women's tennis team clinched at least a share of its second consecutive Southern Conference regular-season championship title with a 7-0 shutout of Wofford on Friday night at the Reeves Tennis Center.
The Cougars (17-7, 9-0), who moved back into the Campbell/ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings earlier this week, played spoiler to the Terriers (10-14, 2-8) on Senior Day keeping a 10-match winning streak intact. They are one win away from claiming the title outright and turning in back-to-back undefeated seasons against league opponents having won 19 straight since the end of the 2010 campaign.
All 10 players on the CofC roster contributed to the win including sophomore Olivia McMillan and freshman Jamie Harrell, who teamed up for an 8-2 victory over Wofford's Lucy Schermerhorn and Samantha Sullivan, at No. 3 doubles.
The Cougars would go on to win the doubles point via a 3-0 sweep down the lineup and showed the same dominance throughout singles as all but one match went into three sets. Sophomore Christin Newman won the decisive fourth point for CofC defeating Wofford's top player Emilia Milovanovic in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2.
Elon 6, Savannah College of Art & Design 1
ELON, N.C. - The Elon University women's tennis team closed out its regular season today, April 15, with a 6-1 win over Savannah College of Art and Desigin - Atlanta at The Jimmy Powell Tennis Center. Elon began the match by winning the doubles point and proceeded to win five of the six singles matches, all in straight sets, for the match win.
Elon finishes the regular season with a winning 11-10 record, while SCAD-Atlanta falls to a season record of 8-4.
Elon made quick work of SCAD-Atlanta at both number two and three doubles. Jessica Margolis and Kaylyn Smialek were first off the courts at number three after an 8-1 victory over Aurelie Cachelin and Maggie Russell. On court two, Bryn Khoury and Frida Jansaker also picked up an 8-1 win against Christina Swindall and Carolyn Kernodle to clinch the doubles point for the Phoenix.
At number one, Jordan Johnston and Briana Berne found themselves down early, 4-1, at the hands of Daniela Vukadinovic and Maja Plavsic. With the match in favor of the Bees, 7-4, the Phoenix won the next three games to tie the match at seven-all and send it into a tiebreak. SCAD-Atlanta picked up the win 8-7 (4) in the tiebreak.
In singles play, Smialek quickly defeated Russell in straight sets only giving up one game, 6-0, 6-1, at number six. Berne also only relinquished one game, defeating Kernodle on court four, 6-1, 6-0. Jansaker clinched the match for the Phoenix gathering a 6-3, 6-2 win over Swindall at number three.
Khoury won her first set, 7-5, against Plavsic at number two. The freshman held a 2-1 lead before Plavsic retired due to an injury. Johnston picked up another win for Elon on court one with a 6-2, 6-2 win against Vukadinovic.
The closest match of the day happened on court six, where Margolis picked up a first set win over Cachelin, 6-3, but fell in the second set by the same score. With the match already decided in favor of the Phoenix, the two played a third-set tiebreak in which Cachelin came out victorious 1-0 (8).
Elon has earned the sixth seed in the SoCon Women's Tennis Tournament and will play the #11 seed in a 10 a.m. match on Wednesday, April 20, in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Gardner-Webb 5, UNCG 2
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - With the conference tournament looming next week and a rescheduled match against Davidson on Monday, UNCG elected to play with just four players on Friday and fell to Gardner-Webb, 5-2.
The Runnin' Bulldogs swept the doubles point with an 8-2 win at No. 1 and an 8-3 victory at No. 2, while receiving a forfeit at No. 3, to take the early 1-0 lead.
Despite having to play two flights, Dilara Yurtkuran came away with a 7-6 (4), 6-3 win at No. 2 singles.
Mikayla Rogers, who normally plays at No. 6, moved up to No. 3 where she defeated Jenny Lunde, 6-3, 6-0.
The Spartans fell at No. 1 and No. 4, while forfeiting No. 5 and No. 6 to Gardner-Webb as the Runnin' Bulldogs came away with the 5-2 win.
The Spartans will wrap up the regular season on Monday as they host Davidson for a 3:30 p.m. match at the UNCG Tennis Courts. The match will also be Senior Day for Rogers and Stephanie Macfarlane.