UNCG 4, Wofford 3
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - UNCG pushed its Southern Conference record to a perfect 6-0 and won its fourth match in a row as the Spartans defeated Wofford, 4-3, on Sunday afternoon at the Reeves Tennis Center.
For the 12th time in 15 matches this season UNCG (11-4, 6-0 SoCon) claimed the doubles point and swept all three doubles matches for the seventh time this season. Lucy Dougherty and Niltooli Wilkins pushed their season record to 13-2 with an 8-2 win at No. 2.
Stephanie Macfarlane and Alex Whitehead moved to 12-3 this season with their 8-5 win at No. 1 to clinch the doubles point. Mikayla Rogers and Devon Sutherland made it a clean sweep with an 8-6 win at No. 3.
Dougherty got things going for UNCG in singles with an easy 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 5. Rogers made it 3-0 in favor of the Spartans with her 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 6.
Wofford then began to mount a rally as Sarah Evans won 6-1, 6-1 at No. 3 and Julia Paulson followed with a 6-3, 6-4 victory at No. 4 to cut UNCG's lead down to 3-2.
It was all for naught, however, as Niltooli Wilkins pushed her season record to 13-2 at No. 1 singles to clinch the victory for UNCG with her 7-5, 6-2 win. Haley Baird earned a hard-fought win at No. 2 singles 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to make the final team score 4-3.
College of Charleston 7, Chattanooga 0
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The College of Charleston women's tennis team continued on its winning ways with a 7-0 rout of Chattanooga (8-8, 4-3) on Sunday afternoon at the College of Charleston Tennis Center at Patriots Point.
The Cougars (13-7, 5-0) rolled to their season-best sixth consecutive victory of the season en route to a perfect 5-0 start to Southern Conference play. They are currently tied for first in the league standings with UNC Greensboro.
For the 13th time this season and sixth-straight match, CofC claimed the doubles point behind an 8-3 victory from senior Kinsey Casey and junior Katie Lee at the No. 2 line and an 8-4 win from freshman Jamie Harrell and sophomore Christin Newman at No. 3.
The Cougars followed up the doubles by sweeping all six singles matches including the match clincher courtesy of Christin Newman defeating Chattanooga's top player Jenna Nurik in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1. Other contributors to the final score were senior Emma Hayman at No. 2, junior Caroline Newman at No. 3, Katie Lee at No. 4, freshman Kelly Kambourelis at No. 5 and senior Keely Mulligan at No. 6.
Samford 6, Georgia Southern 1
STATESBORO, Ga. --- The Samford University women's tennis team played its way to a 6-1 Southern Conference victory Sunday as the Bulldogs defeated the Georgia Southern Eagles in a road contest held at the Hanner Tennis Complex.
With the win, Samford (14-4, 4-3 SoCon) concluded its weekend road swing with a 1-1 record. On Saturday, the Bulldogs had their previous three-match winning streak snapped with a 5-2 setback against College of Charleston. Samford has been victorious in four of its last five contests and the Bulldogs improved their record on the road to 5-3 this season.
Georgia Southern (8-8, 2-5 SoCon) was defeated in its third straight conference match Sunday. Since stringing together four-consecutive victories against Davidson, Appalachian State, Southern Illinois-Carbondale and Florida A&M, the Eagles have dropped back-to-back-to-back matches versus Elon, Chattanooga and Samford.
In Samford's 6-1 victory Sunday, the Bulldogs swept the doubles point and then received singles wins from Taylor Morgan, Andrie Meiring, Madelie Janse Van Rensburg, Kristin Lewis and Lindsey Mallory.
Morgan, Samford's talented senior from Jacksonville, Fla., earned a thrilling three-set victory against Georgia Southern's Paola Garrido on court No. 1, 1-6, 7-6(5), 10-4, while all four of the remaining Bulldogs were triumphant in straight sets.
Samford's Janse Van Rensburg improved her team-best singles record to 15-2, while both Lewis and Meiring moved to 15-3 in dual-match play this season.
Furman 6, Elon 1
GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Furman women's team swept the singles matches in a 6-1 win over Elon Sunday afternoon at the Mickel Tennis Center in Greenville, S.C.
Paladin senior Monica Arguello, ranked 71st nationally, defeated Jordan Johnston, 6-2, 6-0, in the top singles match, while freshman Margaret Boyette notched a 7-6, 7-5 win over Bryn Khoury at number two singles. In the third singles match, sophomore Lauren Kline beat Frida Jansaker, 6-3, 6-1, and freshman Amanda Murray posted a come-from-behind 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory over Viviana Stavreva at number four singles. At number five singles, sophomore Michele Stanford defeated Briana Berne, 6-1, 6-1, and junior Susan Bitetti recorded a 6-2, 6-0 win over Jessica Margolis in the sixth singles match-up.
The Phoenix won two out of three doubles matches to score Elon's lone point. Johnson and Berne teamed up for an 8-6 win over Boyette and Murray in the top doubles match, while Jansaker and Khoury defeated Kline and Stanford, 8-5, at number two doubles. The Paladins tallied a win in the third doubles match, as Arguello combined with senior Jennifer Betts for an 8-1 victory over Margolis and Stavreva
Appalachian State 5, Western Carolina 2
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Western Carolina (2-11, SoCon 1-6) fell 5-2 Sunday afternoon to Appalachian State (9-8, SoCon 2-5) at the Catamount Athletic Complex. The Catamounts picked up wins in the No. 2 and the No. 4 singles spots.
In doubles competition, the No. 2 doubles duo of Izabella Glinska and Karen Jimenez got down 4-1 early to start the match. They battled back to get within one of ASU's Ansari and Fernandez, down 4-3. The match went back and forth with Glinska and Jimenez eventually falling 8-6, giving Appalachian the doubles point.
Similar to the No. 2 match, the No. 1 duo of Iglesias Díaz and Lainez got down early in the match. After getting back within one of Appalachian's Linsell and Bean, Iglesias Díaz and Lainez fell 8-6.
In the singles competition, Katie Barry fell to Kim Lea Dinh, 6-0, 6-0. In the No. 1 match, Izabella Glinska was defeated by Ellie Linsell.
In the No. 4 match, Karen Jimenez and Appalachian's Blakely Bean went back and forth through both of their sets. In the first set, Jiménez defeated Bean 7-5. Jimenez won a hard fought second set 6-2.
At No. 3, Ainhoa Iglesias Diaz fell 6-1, 6-1 to Jessica Thaggard.
In the No. 2 spot, after cruising to a first set 6-2 win, Carolina Lainez dropped her second set 5-7 to Jennifer Ansari. In the tiebreak set, Lainez won 10-3. The win was the seventh of the season for Lainez