Elon 5, Radford 2
BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Elon women's tennis team won its second match of the season on Friday, claiming a 5-2 win over the Radford Highlanders at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center on Virginia Tech's campus.
Jordan Johnston and Frida Jansaker improved to 3-0 in doubles play after defeating Radford's Mia Drobnjak and Gemma Valls with an 8-3 decision. The Phoenix won the doubles point after Briana Berne and Maria Camara Ruiz defeated Petra Dajevic and Taylor Newman, 8-5.
Johnston got the Phoenix off on the right foot in No. 1 singles, defeating Dajevic in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5, to give the maroon and gold momentum.
After claiming a 7-6 win over Drobnjak in the first set at No. 2 singles, Bryn Khoury gave the Phoenix another point after winning the second set, 6-4.
Rookie Barbora Lazarova had an impressive performance for Elon at No. 4 singles, defeating Valls in two sets, 6-4, 6-3.
Viviana Stavreva was equally impressive for the Phoenix at No. 5 singles, as the sophomore went on to a 6-2,6-4 victory over Newman.
Elon returns to the tennis courts Saturday versus No. 60 Virginia Tech at 10 a.m.
Samford 4, Middle Tennessee 3
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The Samford University women's tennis team opened its 2012 dual-match season in dramatic fashion Friday as the Bulldogs registered a thrilling 4-3 victory against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders in a non-conference showdown held at the Samford Tennis Complex.
With the score of the match deadlocked at 3-3, Samford (1-0) turned its attention to court No. 2 where the Bulldogs' Madelie Janse Van Rensburg outlasted the Blue Raiders' Yuiri Nomoto, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. Janse Van Rensburg's match-clinching singles win secured the victory for Samford.
The Bulldogs also received singles triumphs Friday from Kristin Lewis on court No. 1, 6-3, 6-1, and Emily Mallory in the No. 6 matchup over Middle Tennessee's Marietta Bigus, 7-5, 6-1.
Middle Tennessee (0-1) recorded a trio of singles wins from Flavia Nagayama, Lexi Brand and Nayara Moraes. The Blue Raiders' victories occurred on courts No. 3, 4 and 5.
Samford jumped out to an early 1-0 lead Friday by winning two of the three doubles matches. On court No. 1, the Bulldogs' combination of Lindsey Mallory and Lewis defeated Middle Tennessee's tandem comprised of Moraes and Nava, 8-4. Samford also received a doubles victory in the No. 2 matchup as Rebecca Kirven and Janse Van Rensburg defeated the Blue Raiders' duo of Bigus and Brand, 8-4.
With Friday's victory, the Bulldogs pulled even in their all-time series against Middle Tennessee, 3-3.
Duke 7, College of Chareleston 0
DURHAM, N.C. - The College of Charleston women's tennis team suffered a 7-0 defeat to the third-ranked Duke Blue Devils on Friday afternoon in the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center in the opening round of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend.
The Cougars will conclude the weekend with a match against Winthrop on the same location on Sunday, Jan. 29 at 9 a.m. Follow along with the match at GoDuke.com.
"We held our own early on in the doubles," said head coach Angelo Anastopoulo. "I was real proud of them for the way we showed up but in the end Duke was just too tough. In singles as well, we held our own early and the girls fought hard but they are number three in the nation for a reason. Our girls competed hard and gave it everything they had."
The match opened with doubles play where sisters Caroline Newman and Christin Newman suffered an 8-2 loss to Hanna Mar and Annie Mulholland at No. 3 doubles. Moments later, the Blue Devils earned the doubles point when Duke's No. 2 doubles pair Rachel Kahan and Beatrice Capra downed CofC's Kelly Kambourelis and Jenny Falcone by the same set score.
In the third doubles match, CofC's No. 1 pairing of Samantha Maddox and Irene Viana were giving Duke's No. 1 pairing of Mary Clayton and Ester Goldfeld all they could handle and trailed just 5-3 when the other matches concluded.
The Cougars fought well through the singles matches but Duke's four nationally-ranked players and deep lineup proved to be too much in the end.
"We learned a lot out there and will have to apply those things to beat a very tough Winthrop team on Sunday," said Anastapoulo. "This is the first time we'll play them on a neutral site. They've won their conference championship several times and just upset a very strong Wake Forest team last week.
"This match is definitely going to be a challenge and we'll need our upperclassmen to continue what they've been doing. Our freshmen are learning each match and we'll need to be at our best to beat a very well-coached Winthrop team."