Appalachian State 5, East Carolina 2
BOONE, N.C. - The Mountaineers kept their home winning streak alive as Appalachian State University women's tennis defeated East Carolina, 5-2, on Saturday at Yonahlossee Racquet Club. Appalachian (4-3) has now won all three of its home matches, while East Carolina (4-8) rounds out a 1-2 week of play.
In the doubles competition, ECU's No. 3 pair notched the first win, capitalizing on three break points to win, 8-2.
At No. 2 doubles, Appalachian seniors Gisela Fernandez and Gabriela Celi found themselves tied with their Pirate opponents, 4-4, before winning four straight games to take the match, 8-4.
With the doubles point at stake, ASU's No. 1 duo of juniors Jennifer Ansari and Ellie Linsell dueled with ECU's Yilian Zhang and Danielle Terpko. The Mountaineers notched a break point early and were in front for most of the match, eventually leading 7-5. Facing defeat, the Pirates rallied, scoring a break point to level the score, 7-7.
After serving to 8-7, ECU's pair won a second break point and their fourth-straight game for the 9-7 victory, giving the Pirates a 1-0 lead in the team scoring.
In singles action, Appalachian's No. 2, Ansari, built a 4-0 lead in the first set. Her ECU opponent recovered with a pair of break points to close the gap to 5-4, but Ansari broke serve to close the first set 6-4. In the second set, the Mountaineer stole a 5-0 advantage en route to a 6-2 win in the second, equalizing the team score at 1-1.
At No. 3, Celi and her opponent exchanged a pair of breaks to find the match tied 5-5 in the first. Celi defended the Pirate serve and captured the first set 7-5. The second set proceeded in nearly identical fashion, as the players were again locked at 5-5. Celi triumphed again with a 7-5, 7-5 win, giving the Mountaineers their first lead, 2-1.
Appalachian sophomore Jessica Thaggard made quick work of her match at No. 4 singles. She locked down the first set before winning five straight games in the second en route to a 6-2, 6-1 win, putting the Apps one match point from the team victory.
In the top singles match, ASU's Linsell squared off against ECU's Natalie Collins. Linsell scored the only break point of the first set, taking it 6-4. In the second set, the Mountaineer broke to take a 6-5 lead with a chance to serve for the match, but Collins retorted with a break of her own. In the tiebreak, Linsell jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but Collins stole momentum and scored seven-straight en route to a 7-6(7-2) win to send the match to a deciding set.
After Linsell and Collins exchanged broke each other's serve early in the set, it was a late break for the Pirate that gave ECU a 5-4 lead and a chance to steal the match. In the end, ECU's Collins succeeded, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4, keeping the Pirates alive.
Appalachian freshman Gabby Gabriel stormed to a 6-0 first set at No. 6 singles. In the second set, ECU's Abby Richmond put up a strong fight, but after the two exchanged five straight break points, Gabriel served out the final game for a 6-0, 6-3 win, clinching the overall win for the Mountaineers.
In the day's final match, Appalachian's No. 4, Kim-Lea Dinh, fell behind after falling 4-6 in the first set. Dinh rebounded to take the second, 6-2, and both she and her Pirate broke serve twice in the third. In the decisive tiebreaker, ECU had a match point at 5-6, but the Mountaineer responded with a pair of points and a 7-6 match point of her own. After a few tense serves, Dinh finally prevailed, winning her match 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7), giving the Black and Gold a 5-2 final victory.
The Mountaineers have a short break before their next competition, as they prepare to host Elon on March 6 at 2:30 p.m. to kick off their Southern Conference schedule.
Samford 7, UT-San Antonio 0
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The Samford University women's tennis team continued its dominance at home this season Saturday as the Bulldogs cruised to a 7-0 non-conference victory against the UTSA Roadrunners in their final contest of a season-opening, eight-match homestand held at the Samford Tennis Center.
With the shutout victory, Samford (8-0) remained undefeated on the season and extended its home winning streak to 13-consecutive matches. The Bulldogs have not been defeated at the Samford Tennis Center since a hard-fought 4-3 setback against Furman on March 27, 2011.
So far this season, Samford has dominated its opponents and is outscoring its adversaries by a total of 48-5, including a 32-0 streak in consecutive shutout victories against Jacksonville State 7-0, South Alabama 4-0, Southern Miss 7-0, UAB 7-0 and UTSA (5-2) 7-0.
The Bulldogs have not allowed an opponent to score a point since defeating Austin Peay 6-1 on Feb. 3.
With Saturday's loss, UTSA had its two-match winning streak ended. The Roadrunners entered the contest with a full head of steam after earning back-to-back victories against UTEP and UAB.
Samford swept the doubles point Saturday and then received quick straight-set singles wins from Kristin Lewis, Madelie Janse Van Rensburg, Stephanie N'tcha, Rebecca Kirven and Lindsey Mallory. In the No. 6 singles contest, the Bulldogs' Emily Mallory notched a 1-6, 7-6(4), 1-0 (4) triumph over UTSA's Irene Gonzalez.
Lewis, Samford's talented No. 1 player from Odenville, remained undefeated on the season in singles play and improved her unbeaten record to 8-0. Lindsey Mallory, who registered a 6-0, 6-0 triumph in the No. 5 singles contest Saturday, moved her record to 6-1 this season.
The Samford University women's tennis team will next be in action March 6 at 2 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs hit the road for the first time this season versus the Georgia State Panthers in a critical non-conference contest to be held at the Sharon Lester Tennis Center at Piedmont Park.
Chattanooga 5, Kennesaw State 2
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's tennis team continued its best start in over 20 years with a 5-2 win against Kennesaw State today. The Lady Mocs improved to 5-1 with a solid, non-conference victory at the Champions Club.
"We had a really good win today over a strong team," stated head coach Jeff Clark. "We got off to a good start and were able to battle to the end for the win."
Chattanooga used a mix of youth and experience to take the doubles point over the Owls (5-3). Seniors Emily Hangstefer and Brianna Wishing took the first match with an 8-1 win at No. 3. The Lady Mocs dropped No. 2, but sophomore Alexa Flynn and freshman Kaylene Chadwell clinched the point with an 8-4 win at No. 1.
UTC could not ride that momentum into singles action, falling behind a set in four of the six matches. Freshman Claire Mulyadi did dominate at No. 6, winning 6-1, 6-0. She improves to 2-0 since joining the team in January.
KSU pulled to 2-1 in the team score with a win at No. 2. Senior Shaina Singh fought back after being down a set to put UTC up 3-1 with her win at No 5. She improved to 5-1 in the spring, 4-1 at No. 5 and 11-6 overall.
KSU got to within a point at 3-2 when Virginie Steain defeated Chadwell (7-5, 6-2) at No. 3. That would be the last point for the Owls on the day.
Senior Jenna Nurik had an impressive win over Vera Shkundina at No. 1. Nurik had lost in straight-sets in each of her previous two meetings with Shkundina and fell behind early in today's contest. She battled back to take the final two sets for the win (4-6, 6-4, 6-3). Nurik improved to 5-1 in the spring with the match-clinching victory today.
"Jenna Nurik was awesome in singles," added Clark. "She beat a great No. 1 player who had beaten her handily in two previous matchups. She showed great fight and got the clinching point. That was a great win for her."
Hangstefer won her first set at No. 4, but was forced into a third by Jana Heckinghaus. She dropped the first game of the final frame, but won the last six for her 10th singles win of the year.
ELON, N.C. - The Elon women's tennis team swept a rare triple-header today, Feb. 25, at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center, claiming victories over Queens, Winston-Salem State and Meredith.
Elon has now won six straight matches and improves to 8-2 on the year.
Elon 7, Queens 0
The 43rd-ranked doubles team of Jordan Johnston and Frida Jansaker helped the Phoenix claim the doubles point over the Royals with an 8-1 decision over Erin Williams and Christina Rustscheff. Briana Berne and Maria Camara Ruiz also won a doubles match for the maroon and gold with an 8-3 victory over Elena Mileva and Morgan Roberts.
The Phoenix went on to win all six singles matches to record the clean 7-0 sweep, as Berne, Kaylyn Smialek and Katy Canada all came up with key victories over the Royals in the 4-6 positions.
At No. 1 singles, Johnston came up with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Elena Mileva, while Barbora Lazarova topped Christina Rustscheff at No. 2 singles, 6-3, 6-1.
Elon 7, Winston-Salem State 0
ELON, N.C. - The Phoenix opened its match versus the Rams in impressive fashion, sweeping doubles to earn the point. Johnston/Jansaker picked up their second win of the day with an 8-2 decision over Holmes and Carter.
In singles, Lazarova and Viviana Stavreva shined in the No. 1 and 2 positions, coming up with wins over Holmes and Carter. Lazarova picked up a 6-0, 7-6 win while Stavreva earned a 6-2, 6-2 win to give the maroon and gold momentum.
Camara Ruiz, Berne, Canada and Smialek all picked up wins for the Phoenix in singles as well, helping Elon to its second sweep of the day.
Elon 5, Meredith 0
ELON, N.C. - Berne and Camara Ruiz won the lone doubles match of the day against Meredith, claiming an 8-3 victory over Puja Patel and Caroline Hunt.
In singles play, Lazarova picked up her third win of the afternoon in the form of a 6-0, 6-0 decision over Mary Lawrence Newton, while Jansaker defeated Ashley Pearsall, 6-0, 6-1.
Canada and Smialek closed out singles play in impressive fashion, recording wins over Meredith's Mollie Musgrave and Meg Crumpton.
Elon returns to action on Feb. 28 at home versus UNC Wilmington. The match is slated for 2 p.m. at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.
Harvard 5, Furman 2
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. - The Harvard women's tennis team, ranked 67th nationally, put together two doubles wins and four singles victories to push past Furman, 5-2, Saturday afternoon in Cambridge, Mass.
The Furman doubles duo of junior Lauren Kline and freshman Alex Moreno-Kaste knocked off 23rd-ranked Hideko Tachibana and Kristin Norton in the top doubles match, before the Crimson rebounded with victories in the bottom two matches to take the doubles point. Hannah Morrill and Kelly Whelan combined for an 8-4 win over junior Michele Stanford and sophomore Margaret Boyette at number two, while Samantha Gridley and Camille Jania posted an 8-3 victory over sophomores Amanda Murray and Katherine Oudin in the third spot.
In singles action, Tachibana defeated Oudin, 6-0, 6-2, at number three singles, then Norton beat Kline, 6-1, 6-2, in the top singles match to give the Cavaliers a 3-0 lead. Boyette put the Paladins on the board with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Gridley at number four singles, then Moreno-Kaste cut the margin to 3-2 with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Whelan in the fifth singles match-up.
Jania clinched the match for Harvard, posting a 6-3, 7-5 triumph over Stanford at number two singles, then Morrill defeated senior Susan Bitetti, 7-5, 6-3, at number six to close out the match.
"We battled well when we were down 3-0," said Furman head coach Debbie Southern following the match. "I was proud of how well we came out after losing the doubles point. Our number one doubles team had a great win, which is very encouraging for them. Hopefully we can turn around quickly and come out firing tomorrow."
Furman (2-6) will play Boston University Sunday at 10 a.m. in Cambridge, Mass.
Richmond 4, UNCG 3
GREENSBORO, N.C. - UNCG won the doubles point and the first two singles matches but saw Richmond rally for four straight singles wins, including the decisive match in a tiebreaker in the third set, to take the 4-3 win over the Spartans at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center on Saturday.
Richmond's Melissa Kandinata recovered from a first-set loss to take a 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) win over Alex Whitehead at No. 2 singles to seal the win for the Spiders (5-1).
Wins at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles gave UNCG (3-3) the early 1-0 lead. Niltooli Wilkins and Lucy Dougherty teamed for an 8-3 win over Helen Cunningham and Alexandra Smyth at No. 1, while Devon Sutherland and Whitehead picked up an 8-5 win over Kandinata and Elizabeth Sims at No. 2.
Richmond's Nil Horoz and Joanna Matuszczyk downed Kayla Gammie and Annette Rios at No. 3, 8-6.
Rios put UNCG up 2-0 with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Cunningham at No. 3 singles, and Wilkins put UNCG on the brink of clinching the match with a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 1.
Smyth got Richmond on the board with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Stephanie Falcon at No. 5, and Sims outlasted Dougherty in a second-set tiebreaker for the 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) win at No. 2.
Horoz pulled the Spiders even with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 win over Sutherland at No. 6 before Kandinata completed the rally.
Whitehead and Rios each played up a flight thanks to a back injury to UNCG's usual No. 2 singles player, Dilara Yurtkuran.
UNCG will now hit the road for a season-long eight-match road swing, starting with a contest at Longwood on March 1. That match is set for a 2:30 p.m. start.
Florida Atlantic 5, Georgia Southern 1
BOCA RATON, Fla. - The Georgia Southern Women's Tennis team was unable to start their Florida road swing on the winning track. They fell to the Florida Atlantic Owls by a 5-1 score on Saturday afternoon, thereby extending the Owls' winning streak to six matches.
The Eagles (2-4) lost several tough matches in singles play. Caitlin Kitchen fell at No. 3 singles and Alexandra Langmo fell at No. 6 singles in the trip to her hometown. Paola Garrido got the Eagles on the board with a 6-4, 6-1 win at No. 1 singles, notching her fifth singles victory of the season. The team was then victimized by a trio of three-set losses. Allison Beeler lost at No. 4 singles by a score of 6-2, 4-6, 6-2. Alexis Prickett and Cameron Williams lost by nearly identical scores in third-set match tiebreakers at #2 and No. 5 singles. Prickett lost 6-4, 6-7 (4), 10-8, her fourth three-set defeat of the season, while Williams lost by a score of 6-3, 6-7 (5), 10-8. Doubles matches were cancelled due to the threat of rain.
The Eagles will complete their Florida road trip on Sunday when they take the courts against the Hatters of Stetson. First serve is set for noon in DeLand.