UNCG 7, Western Carolina 0
GREENSBORO, N.C. - The women's tennis program picked up its third victory of the season when it opened SoCon play against Western Carolina Sunday, Feb. 24 at home.
The Spartans won three out of three doubles matches to earn the doubles point in their match against Western Carolina.
In doubles play, seniors Niltooli Wilkins and Alex Whitehead defeated Nicole Nielly and Shannon Bettiol, 8-0.
Junior Dilara Yurtkuran and sophomore Stephanie Falcon fought to win, 8-6 against Stacia Kissell and Karen Jiménez.
Freshmen Jamie Grinberg and Amy Ellis defeated Sara Ruiz Pajares and Erin Maguire, 8-6.
UNCG swept all singles matches against the Catamounts.
Wilkins beat Kissell, 6-3, 6-1, while Yurkuran won 6-3, 6-3 against Jiménez.
Whitehead picked up an easy 6-3, 6-2 win against Ruiz. Falcon took down Nielly, 6-0, 6-2.
Freshman Soumeya Anane shut out Bettiol, 6-1, 6-0, while sophomore Kayla Gammie won in an easy 6-0, 6-2 match against Maguire.
Elon 4, UNC Wilmington 3
WILMINGTON, N.C. - The Elon University women's tennis team rallied back for a thrilling 4-3 win over the UNC Wilmington Seahawks today, Feb. 24, at the UNCW Courts in Wilmington, N.C.
Elon has won seven straight matches and improves to 7-1 on the year with the win. UNCW falls to 3-2 with the setback.
"I was very impressed with our team's fight and determination to win the match today against a very talented UNCW team," said Elon head coach Elizabeth Anderson. "Bryn, Frida and Jordan came up with keys wins for us and set up Maria to clinch the match, which she did. We look forward to building on today's win moving forward to the rest of our matches this upcoming week."
Tied at 3-all, Maria Camara Ruiz clinched the victory for the Phoenix at No. 6 singles after topping Christine Kharkevich in three sets. Camara Ruiz fell behind early after dropping the first set, 6-4, but came back strong to take the next two, 6-3, 7-5, to give Elon the win.
Bryn Khoury put Elon on the scoreboard after the team fell behind, 2-0, as the junior topped Olga Blank in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1, at No. 4 singles.
Frida Jansaker tied the match at 2-all after quickly dispatching UNCW's Christina Riley at No. 2 singles, 6-2, 6-2. Jansaker has won four straight in singles and improves to 8-2 with the victory.
Jordan Johnston came through with a big win at No. 1 singles against UNCW's Angie Sekely, winning in straight sets, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.
Elon is one win shy of tying its longest winning streak at the Division I level, set by the 2010 squad that won eight straight.
Elon returns to action tomorrow at 2 p.m. versus Radford at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.
Appalachian State 7, Presbyterian 0
BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State women's tennis picked up their seventh victory of the season in a 7-0 victory against non-conference opponent Presbyterian College at Templeton Tennis Courts on Sunday afternoon.
The victory marks the Mountaineers (7-2) fourth sweep of the season, and their third shut out, while the Blue Hose drop to 3-2.
Appalachian slid through doubles play, winning all three sets. Ellie Linsell and Mackenzie LaSure breezed past Greer Ransom and Linsay Krause in No. 1 flight (8-1), as did Clare Cox and Jennifer Ansari, who handed Patricia Alves and Courtney Gardiner a loss at No. 2 (8-4). The Mountaineers faced a challenge in No. 3 flight as Presbyterian's Caroline deLoach and Haley Elliott nearly took a win, but came up short to Brianna Armellino and Gabriela Celi (8-6).
In singles play, two Mountaineers won by 6-4, 6-2 margins as Linsell and Ansari moved past Ransom and deLoach in first and third flights, respectively. Cox found victory in her second-flight match against Alves (6-1, 6-1), while freshman Brianna Armellino held off Krause (6-4, 6-0).
Jessica Thaggard and Celi also picked up victories in fifth and sixth flights.
Looking ahead, the Mountaineers will host Chattanooga on March 1 at 2 p.m.
Troy 6, Georgia Southern 1
STATESBORO, Ga. -- The Georgia Southern Women's Tennis team (2-5) dropped a road match against Troy (5-4) on Sunday afternoon. Lone senior Natalie Maffett picked up the only win for the Eagles on the day for a final score of 6-1.
Maffett won her fourth singles match of the year when she beat Rosaura Ramirez-Vega 7-6, 6-2.
The Eagles will be hitting the road again next weekend, continuing their conference slate against Furman and Wofford on Saturday and Sunday. The Eagles do not return home until Saturday, March 9 when take on Savannah State in non conference showdown.
UNC Asheville 4, Wofford 3
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Wofford women's tennis team fell to UNC Asheville 4-3 in an extremely close match-up on Sunday afternoon. The Terriers fall to 3-3 for the year while the Bulldogs improve to 5-3.
In doubles play, Wofford opened the match strong with a quick 8-2 victory by Julia Paulson and Lucy Schermerhorn over Amryn Soldier and Gillian Lewis at the No. 3 spot. However, UNC Asheville would respond with an 8-2 win of their own by Christin Boissevain and Emily McNall over Terriers Emily Przystawski and Mareli Sanchez at No. 2. The Bulldogs would clinch the doubles point shortly after when Zoe Hamel and Erickia Rivero defeated Sarah Evans and Othilia Lindqvist 8-4 at the No. 1 position.
On the singles side, Wofford started fast winning the first set in five of six match-ups. The Terriers would tie the score at two following straight set victories by Audrey Coventry over McNall (6-2, 7-5) at No. 2 and Paulson over Rivero (6-1, 6-2) at the No. 3 spot. Wofford took the lead for the first time after Evans defeated Hamel in straight sets (6-3, 6-2) at the No. 1 position. With the result coming down to the wire, the final two matches of the day both went into a third set. UNC Asheville would tie the score at three when Soldier topped Sanchez (2-6, 6-2, 6-4) at No. 5. The final point of the match also went to the Bulldogs as Boissevain got the better of Lindqvist (3-6, 7-5, 6-0) in the No. 6 spot to clinch the victory.
"I am really proud of the way the team came out in singles after losing the doubles point," said Head Coach Krissy Hall following the tough loss. "We fought until the end and fell just short to a great UNC Asheville team."
The Terriers return to the court Tuesday, February 26, when they travel to face the 49ers of Charlotte at 2:00 p.m.
Winthrop 7, Furman 0
ROCK HILL, S.C. - Winthrop won two out of three doubles matches and was victorious in four split-set matches to blank Furman, 7-0, Sunday in women's tennis action at the Winthrop Memorial Tennis Courts in Rock Hill, S.C.
Paladin senior Lauren Kline and sophomore Alex Moreno-Kaste opened the doubles competition with an 8-5 win over Yasmsine Alkema and Andressa Garcia at number one, before Caitlin Cridland and Ekin Gunaysu teamed up to defeat Furman junior Margaret Boyette and sophomore Kelly Sullivan, 8-5, to knot the doubles at one apiece. In the decisive flight two match, Alice Garica and Biovanna Portioli posted an 8-5 victory over junior Amanda Murray and senior Michele Stanford to clinch the doubles point.
In singles action, Cridland blanked Sullivan, 6-0, 6-0, at number five, then Gunaysu held on for a 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 victory over Boyette at flight six to push the Eagles lead to 3-0. Portioli clinched the team win with a 6-2, 6-3 decision over Murray at number four singles.
The Paladins pushed the Eagles to a tie-breaker in each of the top three singles matches to end the match. Alkema came from behind for a 5-7, 6-2, 1-0 (10-3) win versus #110 Kline in the top flighted singles match-up, then Alice Garcia squeaked by Stanford, 4-6, 7-6, 1-0 (10-8) at number three. In the second singles match, Andressa Garcia posted a 7-5, 1-6, 1-0 (10-8) win over junior Katherine Oudin.
Furman (1-5) opens Southern Conference play next Saturday when the Paladins entertain Georgia Southern at 11 a.m. at the Mickel Tennis Center.