Elon 6, Richmond 1
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Solid performances all around helped the Elon University women's tennis team to its first dual win of the 2013 season today, Jan. 25, as the Phoenix claimed a 6-1 win over the Richmond Spiders at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center.
Elon improves to 1-1 on the year as a team, while Richmond, last year's Atlantic 10 Conference champion, drops to 0-2 with the setback.
Elon took an early 1-0 match lead after winning two out of three doubles matches against Richmond. Jordan Johnston and Frida Jansaker improved to 4-1 on the year with an 8-2 decision versus Richmond's Melissa Kandinata and Alexandra Smyth. Barbora Lazarova and Viviana Stavreva were also victorious in doubles, topping the Spiders' Anna Abadías Morales and Katya Salas, 8-3.
Johnston battled back from a 6-4 loss in the first set to top Kandinata at No. 1 singles in three sets. Johnston won the next two sets, 7-5, 10-6, to earn the point for the maroon and gold.
Stavreva also battled tough to win a three-set thriller against Richmond. Stavreva earned her second singles win of the season after defeating Salas, 6-3, 4-6, 10-4.
Jansaker improved her singles mark to 4-1 on the year at the No. 2 singles position, claimed a 6-0, 6-4 win in straight sets over Abadías Morales.
At No. 4 singles, Bryn Khoury claimed her third victory of the season, topping Richmond's Emily Gitman in impressive fashion, 6-0, 6-2.
At No. 6 singles, 119th-ranked Briana Berne improved her record to 3-1 on the year, dispatching Richmond's Smyth in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1.
Elon is back in action at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center tomorrow when it takes on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at 4 p.m.
Chattanooga 6, Kennesaw State 1
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's tennis team opened the 2013 spring season with an impressive 6-1 win over Kennesaw State at the Hixson Racquet Club tonight. The Lady Mocs took the first five points in the match to cruise to a non-conference victory over the visiting Owls.
Chattanooga opened by winning the doubles point. Junior Alexa Flynn and freshman Katie Polk defeated Therese Lagerkvist and Isabela Castro (8-3) at No. 3. Senior Jenna Nurik and sophomore Kaylene Chadwell had an 8-4 win over Jana Heckinghaus and Tamara Ploucher at No. 2. Freshman Kelsey Coots and Kayla Jones lost at No. 1 (8-6) to Alexandra Apostu and Virginia Stein.
UTC took control of the match quickly in singles play, only dropping 11 games in its first four wins. Coots won (6-1, 6-1) in straight sets over Lagerkvist at No. 5, followed by Jones' (6-2, 6-0) win over Plocher at No. 4. Sophomore Claire Mulyadi clinched the win with her (6-0, 6-4) win over Casto at No. 6.
Nurik had a big win at No. 1 in straight sets over Stein (6-2, 6-1). Chadwell had the lone setback in single, dropping a tight two-set match to Apostu (7-5, 6-4). Flynn battled back from a 6-1 first-set loss to win in three sets (1-6, 6-3, 6-4) over Heckinghaus.
"Jenna had a nice win to start the year and we played well all around," stated head coach Jeff Clark. "It is always nice to start the season with a win, and we got a chance to see what we need to work on. There is a lot of tennis to play this season, so we hope to keep getting better each time out."
The Lady Mocs are back in action tomorrow, hosting Belmont at the Hixson Racquet Club at 2:00 p.m. (E.S.T.).