UNCG 5, College of Charleston 2
GREENSBORO, N.C. - In its second straight Southern Conference first-place clash, UNCG remained undefeated in league play with a 5-2 win over No. 61 College of Charleston at the UNCG Tennis Courts on Saturday to bolster its chances for its first-ever outright SoCon title. The UNCG win snapped CofC's 36-match winning streak against conference opponents.
The Spartans, who won their ninth straight match, improved to 14-4 overall and 8-0 in SoCon play. The Cougars, who saw their 14-match winning streak come to an end, fell to 18-5 overall and 7-1 in the conference. The loss was CofC's first against a SoCon foe since the 2009 season. The Cougars had won 29 consecutive regular-season matches against league opponents since then and 36 overall including tournament play.
In knocking CofC from the ranks of unbeaten, UNCG now controls its own destiny in its pursuit of the regular-season SoCon title and top seed in the upcoming conference tournament. UNCG last won a SoCon title in 1999, when it shared top billing with Furman. This year's edition has a chance for its first-ever outright championship, as the Spartans are the last undefeated team in league play. UNCG still has conference matches against Elon and Western Carolina left on the docket this year.
Fittingly, UNCG's Niltooli Wilkins clinched the match at No. 1 singles. The redshirt junior topped Christin Newman 6-3, 6-1, running her winning streak to 16 matches and improving to 8-0 in SoCon play. Wilkins' record now stands at 26-6 on the season, meaning she is still on pace to challenge Alejandra Guerra's school record of 29 wins, which has stood since 2009.
The Spartans got the day started right by taking the doubles point, getting wins at Nos. 1 and 3. Wilkins and Lucy Dougherty picked up an 8-3 win over Jamie Harrell and Irene Viana at No. 1, but the Cougars' Jenny Falcone and Kelly Kambourelis counted with a tight 9-8 (7-3) win over Devon Sutherland and Alex Whitehead at No. 2, snapping the Spartan duo's nine-match winning streak.
Kayla Gammie and Annette Rios clinched the point for UNCG at No. 3, staving off Greensboro natives Christin and Caroline Newman by a 9-7 score to run their winning streak to 12 matches.
Once in singles play, Rios put UNCG up 2-0 with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Samantha Maddox at No. 4. Stephanie Falcon made it 3-0 with her 6-2, 6-3 win over Katie Lee at No. 6, putting UNCG on the brink of victory. Rios and Falcon both improved to 7-1 in league play.
Kambourelis gave the Cougars life at No. 2 with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Whitehead, but Wilkins slammed home a forehand winner at No. 1 to clinch the match.
CofC's Falcone picked up a 7-6 (7-5), 6-0 victory over Dougherty at No. 5, and Dilara Yurtkuran pulled out a 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 1-0 (10-6) win over Caroline Newman at No. 3 for the final margin.
UNCG's win snapped College of Charleston's 19-match winning streak in the series and was the Spartans' first over the Cougars since Feb. 28, 1999.
The match was the Spartans' second straight first-place showdown in league play. When UNCG hosted Furman last weekend, the two came into the match with identical 6-0 SoCon records and were tied atop the conference standings. The Spartans took that match by a 5-2 score, as well.
Furman and College of Charleston are SoCon women's tennis royalty, as the squads have combined to win the last 14 league tournament titles and the last 13 regular-season titles, although Furman shared the first in that run with UNCG in 1999.
Samford 4, Appalachian State 3
BOONE, N.C. --- The Samford University women's tennis team continued its winning ways on the road Saturday as the Bulldogs earned a pivotal 4-3 Southern Conference victory against the Appalachian State Mountaineers in a critical late-season league matchup held at the ASU Tennis Courts.
With Saturday's triumph, Samford (13-5, 5-4 SoCon) reeled off its third-straight conference road win and improved to 4-2 when playing away from home this season. Since losing a hard-fought 5-2 contest at Furman on March 24, the Bulldogs have rattled off consecutive SoCon road victories at Wofford 5-1, Davidson 6-1 and Appalachian State (11-9, 4-5 SoCon) 4-3.
In Saturday's key win over the Mountaineers, Samford garnered the all-important doubles point and then received three quick straight-set singles triumphs from Madelie Janse Van Rensburg, Stephanie N'tcha and Rebecca Kirven. The Bulldogs' three victories in singles play secured the team's win by reaching four overall points. Appalachian State later added a pair of singles victories to make the final score 4-3.
Kirven, Samford's senior from Windermere, Fla., picked up her third-consecutive singles win Saturday as she cruised past the Mountaineers' Jessica Thaggard, 6-4, 6-2, on court No. 4. With the triumph, Kirven improved her dual-match record on the season to 10-6.
The Bulldogs' Janse Van Rensburg, with her win on court No. 2, moved to 13-5 in singles play Saturday, while N'tcha defeated Appalachian State's Gabriela Celi, 6-3, 6-0, in the No. 3 contest to improve to 10-6 this year.
Wofford 5, Georgia Southern 2
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Wofford women's tennis team earned a 5-2 victory over Georgia Southern Saturday afternoon at the Hanner Tennis Complex.
With the win, the Terriers improve to 5-12 overall and 1-6 in SoCon action. The Eagles drop to 5-13 overall and 2-7 in league play.
The afternoon began with doubles play, where Julia Paulson and Emily Przystawski teamed to defeat Taylor Jones and Scottie French (8-6) at the No. 2 position, and the pairing of Lucy Schermerhorn and Samantha Sullivan defeated Mimi Bollaci and Alexis Prickett (9-8(7)) in a tiebreak at the No. 3 spot to give the Terriers the doubles point.
Wofford maintained its momentum headed into singles action, as Othilia Lindqvist quickly defeated Cameron Williams (6-3, 6-4) at the No. 4 position, followed by Samantha Sullivan downing Scottie French (6-2, 7-5) at the No. 6 spot to give the Terriers a 3-0 lead.
At the No. 3 position, Audrey Coventry defeated Caitlin Kitchen (6-2, 6-4) to seal the overall match win for Wofford. The Terriers picked up another win at the No. 5 spot with Emily Przystawski defeating Alessandra Dzuba (6-4, 6-4).
Chattanooga 6, Davidson 1
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Hoping to close out its stretch of playing six matches in an eight-day span on a winning note, Davidson fell short in a 6-1 decision to visiting Chattanooga on Saturday afternoon at the Covington Tennis Courts in Southern Conference women's tennis action.
Davidson (4-17, 1-7 SoCon) dropped its second straight after a mid-week win against Western Carolina. The 'Cats fell for the second year in a row to the Mocs (14-4, 6-3 SoCon) after they had rattled off a seven-match win streak prior to last year's 4-3 defeat.
Katharine Dicconson and Nisha Crouser played well in doubles action, scoring eight games, but fell 8-6 at No. 2. UTC captured the team doubles point then with a pair of 8-3 wins at No. 1 and 3 positions.
Elise Held and Catherine Wood teamed up for the first time since March 27 at No. 3 doubles, but fell to 1-7 with their 8-3 loss.
For the second day in a row, Brites Moniz-Soares netted the Wildcats' lone win when her opponent, Alexa Flynn, retired after the team match had been decided. The duo split the first two matches with Flynn winning the first one, 6-1, before Moniz-Soares earned a 6-3 win in set-two. The third set had Moniz-Soares up 4-2. The sophomore improved to 13-5 overall and 6-2 in league play, both tops on the team.
Elon 6, Presbyterian 1
ELON, N.C. - The Elon University women's tennis team closed out its 2012 home schedule in impressive fashion on Satutday, April 6, as the Phoenix recorded a 6-1 victory over instate rival North Carolina Central at The Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.
Today was the final home contest for senior Kaylyn Smialek, who won both of her matches this afternoon. Along with teammate Katy Canada, Smialek helped the maroon and gold capture the doubles point with an 8-0 decision over NCCU's Lakisha McDougald and Julia Aguilar. At No. 6 singles, Smialek defeated McDougald in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0.
"Today was a very special day for Kaylyn Smialek," said Elon head coach Elizabeth Anderson. "We appreciate all she has done for our team and university. It was also great having her parents here from London to join in the senior day celebration."
Canada helped the Phoenix out to a 3-0 edge in singles after quickly dispatching Aguilar, 6-0, 6-0, at No. 5 singles.
Briana Berne was victorious for Elon at No. 4 and helped the Phoenix to a 4-0 lead after claiming a 6-2, 6-1 win over North Carolina Central's Rebecca Wood.
Viviana Stavreva improved to 14-6 on the year today with a 6-3, 6-1 victory at No. 3 over Ekaterina Nekrasova.
Jordan Johnston rebounded for a three-set win over NCCU's Olesya Palko at No. 1 singles. After dropping the first set, 6-2, Johnston stormed back for an impressive 6-0 win in the second set. In the third, Johnston battled for a 10-5 win for the Phoenix, improving to 13-6 this season.
Elon closes out the regular season on April 10 at Southern Conference rival UNCG.