UNCG 6, Campbell 1
GREENSBORO, N.C. - The UNCG women's tennis team picked up it's first win of the 2013 spring season Saturday against Campbell, 6-1.
"It's great to get our first win of the spring," said head coach Jeff Trivette. We've been working hard for the last five weeks to really get in shape, to feel good about our tennis. We've played a couple of tough matches with some ACC opponents and didn't come out on top, but today we did and we proved we were the better team and the hard work paid off."
The Spartans swept all three doubles matches earning them a point towards their 6-1 victory against Campbell.
Seniors Niltooli Wilkins and Alex Whitehead defeated Tamara Stanic and Natasha Afridi of Campbell, 8-4.
Junior Dilara Yurtkuran and sophomore Stephanie Falcon took down Ana Ortiz and Lourdes Ros, 8-0.
Freshmen Amy Ellis and Jamie Grinberg won 8-4 against Tamara Stanic and Lauren Vaughn.
UNCG won five out of six singles matches, as well as one exhibition match.
Wilkins beat Stanic, 6-1, 6-3, while Yurtkuran lost in a tough match against Ortiz, 4-6, 2-6.
Whitehead won in a second-set tiebreaker against Ewa Telenga, 6-0, 3-6 (10-3). Senior Annette Rios dualed Ros to win 7-6 (7-3), 6-0.
Falcon also picked up a Spartan victory against Kirsten Renz, while sophomore Kayla Gammie beat Vaughn, 6-1, 6-3.
Freshman Alisha Burton won in an exhibition match against Caroline Lindsey, 8-3.
The Blue and Gold return to action as they head to Winston-Salem to face Wake Forest Saturday, Feb. 16. Play begins at noon.
Appalachian State 7, Radford 0
BOONE, N.C. - In its first match in the High Country, Appalachian State University women's tennis opened its home schedule with a 7-0 victory over Radford Saturday afternoon at the Yonahlossee Racquet Club.
With the victory, the Mountaineers improve their winning streak to threee-straight matches and move to 4-1 on the season, while spoiling the season opener for the Highlanders. The 4-1 record marks the best start since the 2006 season where the Apps also began the year 4-1.
Appalachian got off to a quick start, capturing all three doubles matches and the opening point. At No. 1, the duo of senior Ellie Linsell and freshman Mackenzie LaSure earned their third victory of the season with an 8-3 win over Taylor Newman and Meg Napolitano. At the No. 2 position, freshman Clare Cox and senior Jennifer Ansari defeated Hana Bobic and Allison Michael, 8-2.
Rounding out the doubles scoring, senior Gabriela Celi and sophomore Gabby Gabriel knocked off Taylor Fay and Gemma Valls at the No. 3 positon, 8-4.
In singles actions, the Apps continued their winning ways as Linsell moved to 4-0 on the year with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Valls in No. 1 singles, as Cox cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 win over Babic at the No. 2 spot.
At No. 3, Ansari knocked off Newman 6-4, 6-3, as Thaggard also remained perfect on the season with a 6-3, 6-1 victory at No. 4.
Celi and freshman Sarah King closed out the match with wins at No. 5 and No. 6, respectively, clinching the 7-0 shutout of the Highlanders. The win gives Appalachian its second-straight win over a Big South opponent, as the Black and Gold defeated Liberty last week.
The Mountaineers return to the courts on Sunday, Feb. 17 as they host North Carolina Central. That match is slated for 2 p.m.
Davidson 4, Gardner-Webb 3
DAVIDSON, N.C. - Junior Nisha Crouser sealed the final point for the Wildcats with a straight-set singles win and Davidson picked up its third straight victory with a 4-3 decision over visiting Gardner-Webb Saturday morning in women's tennis at the Knobloch Tennis Center.
Davidson ran its record to 3-1, while GWU, which had to forfeit the No. 5 and 6 singles slots as well as the No. 3 doubles match, fell to 0-2.
The Wildcats opened the match with a pair of doubles wins to grab the first team point for the third straight match. Brites Moniz-Soares and Elaina Cummer picked up their third win in a row with an 8-6 decision at No.1, and Stephani Synn and Crouser moved to 3-1 on the year with an 8-4 win.
The Runnin' Bulldogs fought back to get wins at No. 1, 3 and 4 singles after forfeiting the No. 5 and 6 positions. Cummer pushed her match to a third set with a 6-4 set-two win, but fell to Erica White, 6-3, in the final set to tie the match up at 3-all.
Crouser came through though for the Wildcats, evening her singles mark to 2-2 on the year with a 6-4, 6-2 decision at No. 2 over Yasmin Doost to seal up the team win.
Davidson will next play a 5 p.m. match against USC Upstate, Feb. 15, as it continues on its nine-match homestand.
Elon 7, N.C. Central 0
Elon 7, North Carolina Wesleyan 0
ELON, N.C. - The Elon University women's tennis team opened its home slate in impressive fashion today, Feb. 9, at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center, posting a pair of 7-0 wins against North Carolina Central and North Carolina Wesleyan.
Elon improves to 5-1 on the year after the two wins. The team has won five consecutive dual matches.
Elon 7, NC Central 0
The Phoenix opened up play by sweeping doubles, as Jordan Johnston and Frida Jansaker won their fourth straight match and improved to 7-1 on the year. The tandem claimed an 8-2 win versus Olesya Palko/Ekaterina Nekrasova. The teams of Viviana Stavreva/Taylor Casey at No. 2 and Bryn Khoury/Maria Camara Ruiz at No. 3 both won, 8-5, 8-0, respectively, to help the Phoenix win the doubles point.
Barbora Lazarova improved her singles mark to 5-3 this season with a 6-3, 6-0, result over NCCU's Mia Ramic at No. 4 singles to help extend Elon's lead.
Briana Berne, ranked 119th in the nation, continued her stellar play for the maroon and gold, as the senior defeated Julia Aguilar with a quick 6-0, 6-0, decision to improve to 6-1 on the year.
Rookie Caroline Baker earned her first collegiate victory at No. 6 singles, defeating Brianna Gatson, 6-0, 6-0.
Johnston, Jansaker and Stavreva all won their singles matches as well, helping Elon to the sweep.
Elon 7, North Carolina Wesleyan 0
For the second time of the day, Elon opened up action by sweeping doubles.
At No. 1, Viviana Stavreva and Taylor Casey defeated Samia Kacher and Katie Beeman, 8-0. Elon won all three of its doubles matches with 8-0 decisions.
Bryn Khoury was victorious for the maroon and gold at No. 1 singles, topping NCWC's Samia Kacher swiftly in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0.
Rookies Taylor Casey and Caroline Baker shined for the Phoenix at No. 5 and 6, as both won their matches, 6-0, 6-0, respectively, to help Elon secure the win.
Elon remains at home next weekend with a Feb. 16 doubleheader against USC Upstate and North Carolina A&T.
Central Florida 5, Furman 2
ORLANDO, Fla. - The UCF women's tennis team handed Furman a 5-2 loss Saturday at the UCF Tennis Complex in Orlando, Fla.
Furman won two out of three doubles matches to open the match. Senior Michele Stanford and junior Amanda Murray combined for an 8-7 victory over Courtney Griffith and Caroline Eberhart in the number two spot, while the duo of junior Margaret Boyette and sophomore Kelly Sullivan topped Jenna Doerfler and Sofia Baptista, 8-6, at number three to clinch the point for the Paladins. UCF's Genevieve Lorbergs and Josephine Haraldson recorded an 8-3 win over senior Lauren Kline and sophomore Alex Moreno-Kaste at number one doubles.
The Knights won five out of six singles matches, as Lorbergs defeated #86 Kline, 6-7, 6-2, 6-2 at number one, and Doerfler bested junior Katherine Oudin, 6-4, 6-2, in the second singles match-up. At number three singles, Haraldson came from behind to defeat Moreno-Kaste, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. Murray recorded a first-set win, 6-3, at number four, before Eberhart put together back-to-back set wins, 6-1, 6-4, for the victory. Baptista recorded a 7-5, 7-5 win over Sullivan at number five.
Boyette added to the Paladin total, defeating Clare Mendell, 6-1, 6-2, in the sixth singles match.
Furman (1-2) will face Troy Sunday at 10 a.m. in Orlando.
Kennesaw State 4, Georgia Southern 3
STATESBORO, Ga. -- Georgia Southern Women's Tennis were able to capture the doubles point but couldn't capitalize in the singles round as they lost to Kennesaw State, 4-3, on a sunny Saturday afternoon at the Hanner Tennis Complex. Sophomore Jordana Klein and freshman Stephanie Woods picked up singles wins in the effort.
The day started off well for the Eagles (1-3) when senior sophomores Alexis Prickett and Klein clinched the doubles point, beating KSU's Therese Lagerkvist and Isabela Castro 8-7 in a match that took more than an hour and a half at court three. Before that senior Natalie Maffett and Woods had teamed up to take the win at court two, beating Jana Hueckinghaus and Tamara Plocher 8-7 as well.
The Eagles dropped three singles matches before Woods won hers 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 over Plocher at the number four spot. Klein won the last match of the day against Apostu. After winning her first set 7-5, she dropped the second with the same numbers and both players needed a third set tiebreaker to decide the match in which Klein came out on top 10-5.
The Eagles are back in action tomorrow, taking on another in state rival, Mercer, at the Hanner Complex at noon.
Auburn 4, Samford 0
AUBURN, Ala. - The Samford University women's tennis team suffered its first defeat of the 2012-13 season Saturday as the Bulldogs were defeated by the No. 68-ranked Auburn Tigers, 4-0, in an early-season, nonconference match held at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
Samford (3-1) played on the road for the first time this season and also faced its first ranked opponent of the 2013 campaign. Auburn (5-1) extended its winning streak to five-consecutive matches and has not been defeated since Jan. 16, when the Tigers were topped by eighth-ranked North Carolina on the road in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Saturday's defeat snapped the Bulldogs' three-match winning streak. Samford opened its 2013 season with consecutive home victories against Austin Peay, 7-0, Kennesaw State, 6-1, and Mercer, 7-0.
The Bulldogs and Tigers met on the hard-court for only the ninth time in history Saturday. The Bulldogs have never defeated the Tigers and Auburn holds a 9-0 advantage in the all-time series.
The Samford University women's tennis team will next be in action Wednesday at 1 p.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs play host to the Jacksonville State Gamecocks in a former Ohio Valley Conference rivalry match to be held at the Samford Tennis Center.