College of Charleston 4, Kansas 3
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - The No. 67-ranked College of Charleston women's tennis team netted CofC Director of Tennis Angelo Anastopoulo his 400th career victory as the CofC women's head coach as the Cougars defeated Kansas, 4-3, on Saturday afternoon at the CofC Tennis Center at Patriots Point.
The Cougars (3-1) got off to a challenging start when junior Kelly Kambourelis went down with an ankle injury in doubles which forced CofC to forfeit her match and consequently lose the doubles point.
However, CofC managed to storm back in singles behind wins by senior Christin Newman at No. 1 singles and freshman Brooke McAmis at the No. 2 slot.
Senior Olivia McMillan put the Cougars up 3-1 when she defeated Dylan Windom of Kansas, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, in a tough three-setter on court No. 5.
The Jayhawks (3-2) topped CofC at No. 4 and No. 6 singles which tied the match at 3-3 and put the pressure on sophomore Samantha Maddox to win her match to clinch the victory for the Cougars.
Maddox delivered as she overcame KU's Maria Belen Luduena in a come-from-behind, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, thriller at No. 3 singles.
"This is a match that I'll remember for the rest of my life," Anastopoulo said. "Even after losing Kelly (Kambourelis) and having three regular starters out of the singles lineup, we came back and won four singles. To do that against a team of Kansas' caliber is really a tribute to the fight that the team showed. We're just taking an attitude of next one up when one of our players goes down with an injury. We just want to get out there and compete hard. I'm proud that this has been a special team that has won a lot of matches. To share that and a milestone in my coaching career is incredible, especially in the atmosphere that we have out here at Patriots Point."
The Cougars will be in action again tomorrow when they host undefeated North Carolina State (3-0) at noon (ET) at Patriots Point.
UNCG 4, Wake Forest 3
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The UNCG women's tennis team earned a hard fought 4-3 victory against ACC member Wake Forest Saturday afternoon at the Wake Forest Tennis complex. Senior Niltooli Wilkins clinched the victory with a three-set win at No. 1 singles.
"It's a very good win for us," said head coach Jeff Trivette. "We came from behind to win the doubles point and that proved crucial for us to win. I am proud of the fight we showed to beat an ACC team on their home courts."
With the overall score tied at 3-3, Wilkins rallied from a 4-5 deficit and was able to break her opponent Kathryn Talbert to tie the game at 5-5. Wilkins won the next two games to finish off the win for the Spartans.
In doubles, Wilkins and classmate Alex Whitehead dropped their match against Kathryn Talbert and Kasey Gardiner, 8-2.
Senior Annette Rios and sophomore Kayla Gammie fought to win 9-7 against Karen Forman and Xue Zhang.
Sophomore Stephanie Falcon and junior Dilara Yurtkuran beat Andrea Retolaza and Brigeta Bercyte, 8-6.
Also in singles, Yurtkuran lost in a though three-set match to Gardiner, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 at No. 2.
At No. 3 Whitehead picked up a 6-3, 6-2 win against Retolaza.
Rios fell to Zhang, 6-3, 6-2 at No. 4, while freshman Soumeya Anane also lost her match, 7-5, 4-6, 6-0 at No. 5.
Falcon took down Bercyte at No. 6 with a 6-4, 6-3 victory.
The 2-2 Spartans return to action when they host Long Beach State Friday, Feb. 22 at the UNCG Tennis Courts. Play will begin at 2 p.m.
Elon 5, USC Upstate 2
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Elon University women's tennis team defeated the USC Upstate Spartans, 5-2, on Saturday, Feb. 16, at the Wake Forest Indoor Tennis Center in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Elon improves to 6-1 on the year, while USC Upstate falls to 4-3 with the setback. The Phoenix rallied after dropping the doubles point, winning all but one singles match to secure the win.
Frida Jansaker claimed a 6-1, 6-0, win at No. 2 singles to tie it at 1-all, but the Spartans came back to take a 2-1 lead. Jansaker and Jordan Jonston won at No. 1 doubles earlier in the day to improve their season record to 8-1.
But it was all Elon from there, as Barbora Lazarova extended her team's lead after defeating USC Upstate's Allison Beeler, 6-0, 6-0, at the No. 5 spot to tie the match.
Bryn Khoury helped Elon to a 3-2 match lead at No. 4 singles after topping Talia Rojas, 6-2, 6-3, in straight sets.
Viviana Stavreva was the next player to finish, as the junior topped Constanze Kuerten, 6-4, 6-3, at No. 3 singles.
Maria Camara Ruiz earned Elon's fifth point at No. 6, recording a 6-2, 6-4, win over Julie Bell.
Elon returns to action on Feb. 19 at home versus Radford.
Troy 5, Samford 2
TROY, Ala. - The Samford University women's tennis team suffered its second road defeat of the 2013 season Saturday as the Bulldogs fell short in a 5-2 decision against the Troy Trojans in a nonconference matchup held at the Lunsford Tennis Complex.
So far this season, Samford (4-2) owns an unblemished 4-0 record when playing at home at the Samford Tennis Center. Conversely, the Bulldogs' 5-2 setback at Troy (4-3) moved Samford to 0-2 when facing opponents on the road. Earlier this season, the Bulldogs were defeated at No. 68-ranked Auburn, 4-0.
Samford took the doubles point against Troy Saturday, but came up short in the bottom five singles matches held on court Nos. 2-6. The Bulldogs' lone victory in singles play occurred on court No. 1 where First-Team All-Southern Conference performer Kristin Lewis came from behind to beat the Trojans' Karoline Grymel, 1-6, 6-1, 6-1
Lewis, Samford's dominant junior from Odenville, remained undefeated in singles play this season and improved to 5-0 when competing on court No. 1.
In doubles play Saturday, Lewis combined with sophomore Stephanie N'tcha to defeat Troy's combination of Anja Cosovic and Grymel, 8-6, on court No. 1. The Bulldogs later clinched the doubles point on court No. 3 as Samford's duo comprised of Jessica Northcutt and Emily Mallory outlasted the Trojans' Olivia Brooke Durden and Candela Munoz Giron, 9-8 (4).
The Samford University women's tennis team will next be in action Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs return home to the Samford Tennis Center for a highly-anticipated matchup versus cross-town rival UAB.