Samford 7, Austin Peay 0
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Samford University women's tennis team opened its 2012 dual-match season in impressive fashion Saturday as the Bulldogs cruised to a 7-0 nonconference victory against the Austin Peay Lady Govs at the Samford Tennis Center.
In the win, Samford (1-0) quickly claimed the doubles point to take an early 1-0 lead and then posted straight-set victories on all six singles courts to earn the 7-0 triumph.
The Bulldogs' doubles tandems of Stephanie N'tcha and Jessica Northcutt, as well as Carita Moolman and Adri Lochner were both victorious Saturday on courts No. 2 and No. 3. Samford's No. 1 doubles combination of Kristin Lewis and Emily Mallory didn't finish its match once the point was already secured by the Bulldogs.
On court No. 2, Samford's N'tcha and Northcutt topped Austin Peay's (0-1) duo comprised of Vanessa Tavares and Alison Carre, 8-5. The Bulldogs' No. 3 doubles team of Moolman and Lochner quickly opened the doubles competition with a lopsided 8-1 triumph over the Lady Govs' Julie Covington and Jovanna Karac.
In Saturday's singles play, Samford cruised to straight-set victories on all six courts. Lewis, the Bulldogs' All-Southern Conference performer, earned a 6-2, 6-0 win on court No. 1, while Northcutt posted a 6-1, 6-4 triumph in the No. 2 matchup.
Rounding out the singles competition, Samford's N'tcha breezed to a 6-2, 6-4 victory on court No. 3, while Moolman defeated Tavares, 6-3, 6-3, in the No. 4 contest. Mallory posted a cool 6-0, 6-4 triumph over Austin Peay's Karac on court No. 5 and Lochner blanked Covington, 6-0, 6-0, in the No. 6 singles match.
The Samford University women's tennis team will next be in action Feb. 2, as the Bulldogs are slated to host a nonconference doubleheader against Kennesaw State and Mercer. Samford is scheduled to face Kennesaw State at 10 a.m., and Mercer at 4 p.m. Both matches will be held at the Samford Tennis Complex.
Wofford 7, North Carolina A&T 0
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Wofford women's tennis team easily defended home court Saturday afternoon, as they defeated North Carolina A&T by a score of 7-0. The Terriers only dropped eight games during the entire match in route to Coach Krissy Hall's first victory at the helm for Wofford.
In doubles play, Wofford opened the match in dominating fashion as they swept the competition to claim the doubles point. At the No. 3 position, Julia Paulson and Lucy Schermerhorn opened the day with an 8-0 victory over Takeyrah Reid and Unique Hawkins. Sarah Evans and Guinn Garcia also cruised to an easy 8-0 win over Kimberly Stalling and Victorea Austin at the No. 1 spot. Othilia Lindqvist and Mareli Sanchez were on their way to victory at the No. 2 position, 7-1, however, their match was stopped and the teams prepared for singles action.
The Terriers took control of the match quickly in singles play, winning all six match-ups in straight sets. Schermerhorn defeated Reid (6-0, 6-0) at the No. 6 position, followed by Paulson over Austin (6-0, 6-0) at No. 3. Wofford clinched the victory when Audrey Coventry beat Hawkins (6-0, 6-0) at No. 2. Next, Sanchez topped Jayla Scott (6-1, 6-1) in the No. 5 spot, and Evans proved too much for Stallings as she cruised (6-1, 6-1) at the No. 1 position. Finally, Wofford wrapped up the sweep when Garcia overpower Cayla Cross (6-1, 6-2) in the No. 4 spot.
"I am really proud of the way the team competed and the energy they brought to the court today," said Coach Hall. "Great to get the first win of the season."
The Terriers return to action on Sunday, February 3, when they host the Hornets of Delaware State at 9:00 a.m. at the Reeves Tennis Center.
Chattanooga 7, Belmont 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's tennis team cruised to a 7-0 win against Belmont at the Hixson Racquet Club this afternoon. The Lady Mocs won all nine matches to improve to 2-0 on the season.
UTC opened by sweeping the doubles to take a 1-0 lead. Freshmen Kelsey Coots and Kayla Jones scored an 8-3 win at No. 1 over Sandra Kancheva and Carolyn Claire. Senior Jenna Nurik and Kaylene Chadwell improved to 6-1 on the year with their 8-3 win over Fabiana Mersan and Nikki Maciel at No. 2. Junior Alexa Flynn and freshman Katie Polk completed the sweep with their 8-4 win over Catherine Holliday and Natalia Nunes at No. 3.
Coots made quick work of her bout with Kancheva at No. 6, posting a straight-set win (6-0, 6-0) without dropping a game. It was her 10th singles win of the year as she improved to 2-0 in dual matches.
Nurik followed that with a (6-0, 6-4) win at No. 1 against Holliday to give UTC a 3-0 lead. Jones clinched the win with her (6-1, 6-0) win over Caire at No. 4.
Chadwell (6-2, 6-0) and Flynn (6-2, 6-0) both won in straight sets while only losing two games at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. Freshman Claire Mulyadi closed out the action with her (6-3, 6-1) win at No. 6.
The Lady Mocs are back on the court on Friday, Feb. 1, when they host Middle Tennessee State.
Elon 4, Wake Forest 3
GREENSBORO, N.C. - After falling behind, 3-1, Elon University women's tennis team stormed back for a 4-3 come-from-behind victory over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Saturday, Jan. 26, at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center.
Elon improves to 2-1 in dual matches on the year, while Wake Forest falls to 1-1. The win is Elon's first over Wake Forest and first over a member of the ACC.
"Assistant Coach Bob Owens and I are so proud of the team," said Elon head coach Elizabeth Anderson. "We asked them to give 100 percent mentally, physically and emotionally and they put all they had into the match. It was an entire team effort. Bryn got us going in singles by winning so quickly and starting the positive momentum. Viviana and Barbora won huge three-set matches and stayed so mentally strong throughout. That set senior Bri Berne up for clinching the match. Bri never gave up and fought back after being down several match points."
Briana Berne gave Elon the match victory at No. 6 singles, as the 119th-ranked senior rallied back from a first-set loss to beat Wake Forest's Brigita Bercyte, 2-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3). The match lasted nearly five and a half hours.
The Demon Deacons took the doubles point and two out of the first three singles matches to take a 3-1 advantage on the Phoenix, despite Elon playing close in every spot.
Bryn Khoury gave Elon its first point of the match at No. 4 singles, defeating Wake Forest's Andrea Retolaza in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1, to tie the match at 1-1.
But the Demon Deacons responded quickly, winning at No. 1 and 2 singles to go ahead by two points in the match, 3-1. Jordan Johnston dropped a 6-1, 6-4, decision to Wake's Kathryn Talbert, while Frida Jansaker dropped a tough battle with Kasey Gardiner, 7-5, 6-4.
Barbora Lazarova needed three sets to put away Wake's Karen Forman, but the sophomore earned an important point for the Phoenix to make it a 3-2 match. Lazarova won, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
Viviana Stavreva knotted the match at 3-all in impressive fashion, as the junior won 6-0, 6-7 (4), 6-4, to give the maroon and gold momentum with Berne closing her match at No. 6.
Elon returns to action on Feb. 4 at Gardner-Webb.
Wyoming 4, College of Charleston 1
DURHAM, N.C. - The No. 62-ranked College of Charleston women's tennis team fell to No. 60 Wyoming 4-1 in the first round of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend hosted by Duke University in Durham, N.C.
One of the bright spots for the Cougars (1-1) was sophomore Jenny Falcone completing a comeback three-set win over Sasa Nemcova of Wyoming 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 in No. 4 singles.
The Greensboro, N.C. combination of senior Christin Newman and freshman Brooke McAmis bested Jessica Parizher and Silviya Zhelyazkova of Wyoming 7-6 in No. 3 doubles.
The team also encountered one of their first ranked doubles teams of the season as No. 52 Veronic Popovici and Simona Synkoya of Wyoming overcame sophomore Samantha Maddox and senior Irene Viana in the No. 1 slot.
"It was a tough match, Wyoming did a much better job on the big points of the match than us which was a surprise" CofC Director of Tennis Angelo Anastopoulo said. "We'll have to rebound and play better in tight situations against a much-improved Wisconsin team tomorrow. I feel like our team is similar to the Jamaican bobsled team in Cool Runnings - the longer we're up here in the cold the better we get indoors."
The Cougars will square off against No. 74 Wisconsin in the consolation match tomorrow at 1 p.m. (ET).