Samford 7, Southern Miss 0
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The Samford University women's tennis team continued its dominance at home Saturday as the Bulldogs cruised to a 7-0 non-conference victory against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles at the Samford Tennis Center.
With the win, Samford (6-0) remained undefeated this season and extended its home winning streak to 11-straight matches. The Bulldogs have not lost at the Samford Tennis Center since a hard-fought 4-3 setback against Furman on March 27, 2011.
Already this season, the Bulldogs have rattled off home triumphs against Middle Tennessee 4-3, Louisiana-Lafayette 6-1, Austin Peay 6-1, Jacksonville State 7-0, South Alabama 4-0 and Southern Miss (1-4).
In Saturday's victory, Samford swept the doubles competition and then received singles wins from Kristin Lewis, Madelie Janse Van Rensburg, Stephanie N'tcha, Rebecca Kirven, Lindsey Mallory and Emily Mallory.
Janse Van Rensburg, the Bulldogs' talented senior from Franschhoek, South Africa, earned a three-set singles win against the Golden Eagles' Elja van Berlo on court No. 2. With the victory, she extended her undefeated streak to six-consecutive matches and improved to 6-0 this season.
The Bulldogs' N'tcha, Lindsey Mallory and Emily Mallory all extended their winning streaks to four-straight matches Saturday. Emily Mallory owns a perfect 4-0 record in singles play this season, while Lindsey Mallory improved to 4-1 and N'tcha moved to 4-2.
The Samford University women's tennis team will next be in action Wednesday at 2 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs continue their season-opening, eight-match homestand with a cross-town showdown against the UAB Blazers to be held at the Samford Tennis Center.
East Carolina 5, Western Carolina 1
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - In a battle of East vs. West, Western Carolina (0-2) fell to East Carolina (3-4) 5-1 in a match held at Gardner-Webb University Saturday afternoon. The match was halted at the end of the singles competition due to incoming inclement weather.
Junior Karen Jiménez defeated Neena Wanko in the No. 2 match, picking up not only her first win of the season, but also her first win playing in the No. 2 spot. Jiménez defeated Wanko handedly, winning 6-2, 6-0.
In the No. 1 match, Natalie Collins of ECU narrowly escaped senior Ainhoa Iglesias Díaz. After taking the first set by a score of 6-1, Collins would have to fight back to take set point away from Iglesias Díaz. Collins won the set 7-5. After also being defeated in the first set, freshman Megan McLinden showed her fight as she battled in the second set against Renata Baieva in the No. 3 spot. Bakieva eventually took the second set 6-4.
In the No. 4 and No. 5 matches, East Carolina's Yilian Zhang (6-3, 6-0) and Danielle Terpko (6-0, 6-0) downed Katie Barry and Sarah Walters.
"I'm proud of Karen (Jiménez) for getting her first win of the season under her belt and also for getting her first win at the No. 2 spot," said head coach Chris Wollett. "Both Ainhoa (Iglesias Díaz) and Megan (McLinden) had tough battles in their matches, and I was impressed by how hard they fought back in their second sets. The way they didn't get down on themselves after their first sets and fought back in their second sets will go a long way for us this season."
South Carolina State 7, Georgia Southern 0
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Women's Tennis team was unable to extend their winning streak to three games on Saturday morning. The Eagles fell in their home opener to the undefeated Lady Bulldogs of South Carolina State, 7-0.
The Eagles (2-3) fell behind early in the match by losing the doubles point. The freshmen team of Scottie French and Cameron Williams lost at No. 3 doubles by an 8-3 score. The doubles point was secured by the Lady Bulldogs when they won at No. 2 doubles over the team of Caitlin Kitchen and Taylor Jones. Paola Garrido and Alexis Prickett's match at No. 1 doubles went unfinished because the doubles point had already been clinched.
The Lady Bulldogs were able to use the momentum from the victories in doubles when they transitioned to singles play. They secured quick wins at No. 3 and No. 4 singles before clinching the match win at No. 6 singles. Alexandra Langmo battled tough at No. 6 singles but ultimately fell, 6-3, 6-4. Garrido and Prickett fought hard as well but also came up short, both in third-set match tiebreakers. The loss broke Garrido's eight-match winning streak to start the season.
"We faced a very strong South Carolina State team today," said Head Coach Amy Bonner. "They played strong doubles and never let up in singles, either. We have some work to do to prepare for FAU and Stetson, but experiences like today are great to learn from so we can prepare for our SoCon competition right around the corner."
Campbell 6, Davidson 1
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Davidson took Campbell to three three-set matches in singles play, but came out with just one win and the Fighting Camels carried that momentum the rest of the way in taking a 6-1 decision vs. the Wildcats in women's tennis at the Covington Tennis Courts on Saturday afternoon.
Davidson, in the midst of a five-match homestand, went 1-1 over the weekend to fall to 3-4 on the season. Campbell pushed its record to 4-2. It was the first match between the two schools since 2005 as the 'Cats fell to 1-7 all-time in the series.
After Campbell swept the doubles point with wins at all three spots, the 'Cats battled hard in the singles matches. Stephani Synn, gave Isabel von Stryk a run at No. 1 before falling 6-4, 7-5. Same went for Nisha Crouser, who fell 7-5, 6-3 at No. 3.
Brites Moniz-Soares, Katharine Dicconson and Frizzi Bschorer each pushed their matches to third sets, but only Moniz-Soares was able to pull out a win as she took home the lone point on the day for Davidson. She scored her fifth victory of the year on a 6-7, 6-4, 10-2 decision at No. 2.
Dicconson started her match down one set, 6-0, but came back to score a 6-2 triumph in set two, before falling 6-1 in the final set. Bschorer opened with a 7-5 win, but fell short in the next two sets, 6-1, 6-3.
Rounding out the lineup was Catherine Wood, who fell 7-5, 6-2, at No. 5 to Katya Yegoreychenko. Wood saw her record drop to 3-2 on the year.
Radford 4, Appalachian State 3
BLACKSBURG, Va. - Despite winning three matches, the Mountaineers were unable to hold off the Highlanders, as Appalachian State University women's tennis was edged by Radford, 3-4, at the Burleson-Burrows Tennis Center on the Campus of Virginia Tech on Saturday. The team result came down to the final singles match, but Radford (4-2) was able to pull out the victory over Appalachian State (3-3).
Juniors Jennifer Ansari and Ellie Linsell triumphed in their doubles match at No. 1, winning easily by an 8-3 margin. Radford picked up the No. 2 win, 9-7, and Blakeley Bean and Gabby Gabriel were unable to pull off a win at No. 3, falling 8-9 (5-7).
With the Highlanders in front, 1-0, the Mountaineers looked to singles action to regain control of the match.
Sophomore Jessica Thaggard notched the day's most comfortable win, taking her No. 4 match in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.
Junior Kim-Lea Dinh also won in two sets, taking the No. 6 match 6-4, 7-5.
Linsell picked up her first set in the top singles spot but faltered in the second. She regained her composure in the decisive set and stole the Mountaineers third singles point, 6-4, 0-6, 6-2.
The Highlanders secured two-set wins at No. 2 and No. 5 singles, knotting the score at 3-3 with No. 3 singles as the final factor in the match.
Appalachian's Gabriela Celi recovered from a first set loss and captured the second set, but in the end, RU's Mia Drobnjak clinched the match-winning point, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
With the loss, ASU evens off at 3-3 on the year but looks to regain momentum at home, where the team is 2-0 and has yet to allow a team point this season.
The Mountaineers return home to Yonahlossee Racquet Club to face the Buccaneers of ETSU on Sunday at 2 p.m.
Charleston Southern 6, Wofford 1
CHARLESON, S.C. - The Wofford women's tennis team fell to Charleston Southern by a 6-1 margin Saturday afternoon at the Buccaneer Tennis Center.
With the loss, the Terriers fall to 3-3 overall while the Buccaneers improve to 3-0 on the year.
The duo of Sarah Evans and Guinn Garcia defeated Olga Makhova and Marija Dzakovic (8-6) at the No. 1 doubles position, yet Charleston Southern picked up wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions to claim the doubles point and take the 1-0 advantage into singles play.
In singles action, Samantha Sullivan defeated Susita Das (6-1, 6-4) at the No. 6 position, yet the Buccaneers claimed the other five matches to seal the overall win.
The Terriers will face another Big South Conference member in their next match, traveling to Boiling Springs, N.C. to take on Gardner-Webb this upcoming Friday at 2:00 p.m.