College of Charleston 5, Furman 2
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - The College of Charleston women's tennis team defeated Furman, 5-2, to remain perfect in Southern Conference action held Saturday afternoon at the College of Charleston Tennis Center at Patriots Point.
The Cougars (15-7, 7-0) won their eighth-straight dual match by securing the doubles point early and on the wings of senior leadership in singles versus the Paladins (9-10, 6-2). CofC is one of two frontrunners in the SoCon regular-season title race with UNCG (12-4, 7-0), a squad they will face tomorrow in an important home duel beginning at 11 a.m. (ET).
Senior Kinsey Casey and junior Katie Lee claimed their sixth-straight victory by a close 9-8 count over Furman's Amanda Murray and Michele Stanford at the No. 2 line to give CofC the 1-0 edge leading into singles play. Senior Emma Hayman and sophomore Irene Viana set up the doubles point by easily dispatching the top tandem of Margaret Boyette and Lauren Kline, 8-2, at No. 1.
Freshman Kelly Kambourelis, Hayman and senior Keely Mulligan quickly took care of business winning the three remaining points needed to clinch the match. The trio beat the Paladins in straight sets allowing only 12 games combined at the No. 5, No. 2 and No. 6 lines.
Samford 7, Davidson 0
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The Samford University women's tennis team opened its final Southern Conference homestand of the 2011 season in demonstrative fashion Saturday as the Bulldogs posted a 7-0 victory against the Davidson Wildcats at the Samford Tennis Center.
With the triumph, Samford (15-4, 5-3 SoCon) notched its second straight win and improved its record at home this season to 10-1. The Bulldogs' lone defeat at the Samford Tennis Center in 2011 was a 4-3 setback against Furman on March 26. Since then, Samford has rattled off home victories over Wofford 7-0, Columbus State 7-0, Abilene Christian 4-1 and Davidson (4-16, 0-6 SoCon) 7-0.
The Wildcats suffered their 10th straight loss Saturday. Davidson, which has been defeated in 15 of its last 16 outings, has not been victorious since a 7-0 decision against USC-Upstate on Feb. 18.
In Saturday's shutout win, Samford was triumphant in all nine matches. The Bulldogs the three doubles contests and then picked up straight-set victories in singles play from Taylor Morgan, Andrie Meiring, Madelie Janse Van Rensburg, Rebecca Kirven, Lindsey Mallory and Jessica Diamond.
Samford's Morgan, who is the reigning SoCon Player of the Week, picked up a 6-1, 6-2 victory against Davidson's Alison Rauh on court No. 1 to extend her singles winning streak to six-consecutive matches. The Bulldogs' senior from Jacksonville, Fla., improved her dual-match record this season to 13-5.
Janse Van Rensburg and Meiring were both victorious Saturday and improved their team-best singles records to 16-3.
In doubles play, Samford's No. 1 tandem of Morgan and Mallory extended its winning streak to six straight matches and moved its record on the season to 14-5. On court No. 2, the Bulldogs' combination of Kirven and Meiring increased its record this year to 13-6 with an 8-3 victory against the Wildcats duo comprised of Stephanie Synn and Rauh.