Chattanooga 6, Georgia Southern 1
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's tennis team evened its Southern Conference record at 1-1 with a 6-1 win over visiting Georgia Southern today. The Lady Mocs took the first six points in the match to improve to 9-2 overall while the Eagles fell to 4-7 and 1-2 in SoCon play.
The Lady Mocs swept the doubles point for the fifth time this season, led by sophomore Alexa Flynn and freshman Kaylene Chadwell's 8-1 win at No. 1. They improved to 6-2 as a duo and 5-1 since moving into the top slot in the lineup.
Despite the win at No. 1, the point did not look secure in the early going. Seniors Emily Hangstefer and Brianna Wishing were down 2-3 at No. 3 while senior Shaina Singh and junior Jenna Nurik were trailing 1-4 at No. 2.
Hangstefer and Wishing won six of the next seven games to clinch the point with an 8-4 victory. They are now 7-3 on the year and 4-2 at No. 3. Nurik and Singh tied the match at seven, and, since the point was decided, forced a tiebreaker. They won the extra frame 7-5 to take the match 8-7.
Chattanooga dominated all six first sets in singles play, only dropping seven total games in the six matches. UTC also controlled the top-half of the lineup, giving up just four games in straight-set wins at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3.
Nurik upped the lead to 2-0 with a (6-1, 6-0) win over Paola Garrido at No. 1. Nurik improves to 17-5 overall and 9-2 at No. 1. Flynn was next off the court with a (6-0, 6-2) victory against Caitlin Kitchen at No. 2, followed by Chadwell's (6-0, 6-1) win over Allison Beeler at No. 3.
With the match in hand, Singh and freshman Claire Mulyadi both won at No. 5 and No. 6 respectively. Singh improved to 7-2 at No. 5 while Mulyadi moves to 5-1 at No. 6.
Hangstefer won her first set 6-3 against Cameron Williams, but fell in the second 7-5. They played a 10-point super-tiebreaker to decided the No. 3 match. Williams won that 10-8 to grab GSU's only point on the afternoon.
Elon 6, Davidson 1
DAVIDSON, N.C. - The Elon University women's tennis team won its second straight Southern Conference match on Sunday, March 11, defeating the Davidson Wildcats, 6-1, at the Covington Tennis Courts.
Elon improves to 11-4 on the year and 2-1 in league play, while the 'Cats fall to 3-7 (0-1 SoCon) with the setback.
After winning the doubles point to take a 1-0 match lead, the Phoenix continued its dominance in singles. Frida Jansaker, who was victorious earlier in the match in doubles with Jordan Johnston, won her 10th straight match against Davidson with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Katharine Dicconson. Johnston was victorious at No. 1 with a 6-1, 6-3 decision over Stephani Synn. Johnston and Jansaker are 12-2 on the year in doubles.
Viviana Stavreva played outstanding at No. 3 singles, as the sophomore claimed a 6-0, 6-1 win over Nisha Crouser. Stavreva improved to 9-4 on the year with the win.
Maria Camara Ruiz and Briana Berne helped seal the win for the Phoenix at No. 4 and 5 with a pair of wins over Elise Held and Catherine Wood. Camara Ruiz recorded a 6-4, 6-1 decision, while Berne registered a 6-1, 6-2 victory. The duo was also victorious in doubles earlier in the day, claiming a dominant 8-1 win over Held/Wood. Berne/Camara Ruiz have reeled off nine straight in doubles.
College of Charleston 7, Appalachian State 0
College of Charleston 4, Rutgers 1
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - The College of Charleston women's tennis team improved to 3-0 in Southern Conference play with a 7-0 shutout of Appalachian State in the first dual match of a Sunday doubleheader favored by clear Lowcountry weather in the high 60s at the CofC Tennis Center.
The Cougars (7-4, 3-0 SoCon) fought for every point in doubles as the sister duo of senior Caroline Newman and Christin Newman held Appalachian State's Blakeley Bean and Jessica Thaggard to three games in an 8-3 pro-set victory at the No. 3 line followed by freshman Jenny Falcone and sophomore Kelly Kambourelis with an 8-6 decision over Gabriela Celi and Gisela Fernandez at No. 2 to take the 1-0 lead into singles.
Senior Katie Lee pushed CofC's score out to 2-0 with a straight-set victory, including a love first set against Kim-Lea Dinh, to continue a seven-match and unbeaten win streak at No. 6 singles. Falcone won a 6-2, 6-1 decision at the No. 5 line with the match clincher coming courtesy of Kambourelis over ASU's Jennifer Ansari, 6-1, 6-2, at No. 2.
It marked the first league loss for the Mountaineers (7-4, 1-1 SoCon), who opened up the year with a 4-3 win over Elon on March 6. CofC has now claimed shutouts in back-to-back matches with a 7-0 rout at Chattanooga on March 9.
The College of Charleston women's tennis team won its fourth in a row with a 4-1 decision over Rutgers to complete the doubleheader sweep on Sunday at the CofC Tennis Center.
The Cougars (8-4) played a shortened team format against the Scarlet Knights (5-5) with four singles and one best-of-three doubles match after defeating Appalachian State, 7-0, in the earlier portion of the twinbill.
Christin Newman Jenny Falcone went a perfect 2-0 in singles against ASU and Rutgers combined. Newman improved to 6-4 on the season with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Jennifer Holzberg at the top spot, while Falcone extended her win streak to a team-best six consecutive matches with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Stefania Balasa at No. 3.
Olivia McMillan also contributed to the final team score by a count of 6-1, 6-2 over Noor Judeh at the No. 4 line.
In doubles competition, junior Irene Viana and freshman Samantha Maddox defeated Lindsay Balsamo and Morgan Ivey, 7-6, 6-4, in the best-of-three-sets at No. 1.
It was a fun format for us to play today," CofC Director of Tennis Angelo Anastopoulo said. "(Rutgers Head) Coach Ben Bucca suggested it and we were happy to oblige. It was a quick format and goes in the line with other sports getting done in two or two and a half hours or less. I was real pleased with the performance of our team over spring break. Going 5-1 is a great accomplishment and I hope we can continue that success going up against a very good Boston University team on Wednesday."
The Cougars will host BU (4-4) on Wednesday, March 14 at 1 p.m. (ET) at the CofC Tennis Center.