Elon 6, Samford 1
ELON, N.C. - Against its highest ranked opponent of the 2013 campaign, the Samford University women's tennis team dropped a 6-1 road decision Saturday to the No. 59-ranked Elon Phoenix in a Southern Conference matchup held at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.
Samford (6-6, 1-2 SoCon) earned its lone point of the match on court No. 6 where sophomore AnnMarie Lyon notched a key three-set singles victory over Elon's Maria Camara Ruiz, 1-6, 7-6(3), 6-4. With the win, Lyon improved her record on the season to 3-4.
Elon (11-1, 1-0 SoCon) tallied the doubles point Saturday and then received singles wins on the top five courts. The Phoenix, which recently made school history by being named the No. 59-ranked team in the nation, extended its SoCon-best winning streak to 11 straight matches this season.
Elon has not been defeated since Jan. 23 when the Phoenix suffered a 7-0 season-opening loss at No. 8-ranked North Carolina. Since then, Elon has rattled off consecutive victories against Richmond, Wake Forest, Gardner-Webb, North Carolina Central, North Carolina Wesleyan, USC Upstate, UNC Wilmington, Radford, Charlotte, Longwood and Samford.
In Saturday's doubles competition, the Bulldogs' No. 3 pairing comprised of Jessica Northcutt and Emily Mallory toppled the Phoenix's combination of Briana Berne and Taylor Casey, 8-6. Samford's duo of Northcutt and Mallory improved its overall record on the season to 3-1.
The Samford University women's tennis team will next be in action Sunday at 11 a.m. (CST) as the Bulldogs continue play in their four-match road trip against the UNCG Spartans in a key SoCon matchup to be played in Greensboro, N.C.
UNCG 4, Chattanooga 3
GREENSBORO, N.C. - The UNCG women's tennis program advances its record to 5-4 after winning 4-3 against Chattanooga Saturday, March 9, at the UNCG tennis courts.
The Blue and Gold earned the doubles match point after winning two out of three matches.
Seniors Niltooli Wilkins and Alex Whitehead took down Kayla Jones and Kelsey Coots at No. 1, 8-3.
At No. 2, senior Annette Rios and sophomore Kayla Gammie won in an easy 8-2 match against Jenna Nurik and Kaylene Chadwell.
Junior Dilara Yurtkuran and sophomore Stephanie Falcon beat Alexa Flynn and Claire Mulyadi at No. 3, 8-3.
In singles play, Wilkins won in three sets against Nurik, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 at No. 1.
At No. 2, Yurtkuran fell to Chadwell, 7-5, 6-4, while Whitehead played hard at No. 3 to beat Jones, 6-2, 6-2.
Rios fought in three sets to win 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 against Coots at No. 4.
Falcon dropped her match against Flynn at the No. 5 spot, 6-2, 6-4, while freshman Soumeya Anane fell at No. 6 to Mulyadi, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.
Wofford 4, Western Carolina 3
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Wofford women's tennis team earned their first Southern Conference victory of the season with a 4-3 win over Western Carolina on Saturday afternoon.
The Terriers clinched the match with a win by Lucy Schermerhorn in the day's final match. Wofford improves to 4-4 on the year and 1-1 in conference play. The Catamounts fall to 1-6 and 0-4 in the SoCon.
On the doubles side, Wofford jumped in front early after an 8-3 win by Emily Przystawski and Mareli Sanchez over Sara Ruiz Pajares and Erin Maguire at the No. 3 spot. Western Carolina tied the score when Stacia Kissell and Karen Jimenez defeated Julia Paulson and Lucy Schermerhorn 8-5 at No. 2. The Terriers clinched the doubles point after a win by Sarah Evans and Othilia Lindqvist over Nicole Nielly and Shannon Bettiol 9-7 in a tight match.
In singles action, the Catamounts evened the score after a straight set win by Kissell over Evans (6-1, 6-0) in the No. 1 spot. Wofford then retook the lead when Paulson cruised past Ruiz Pajares (6-0, 6-2) at the No. 3 position. The Terriers doubled their advantage after Sanchez defeated Nielly (6-2, 6-4) at No. 4. However, Western Carolina would win the next two matches to tie the score at three.
At the No. 2 position, Jimenez bested Audrey Coventry in a close three set match (6-4, 2-6, 6-3). Bettiol defeated Lindqvist (6-1, 4-6, 6-1) in the No. 5 spot. Schermerhorn clinched the match for Wofford in dramatic fashion with a three set victory over Maguire (6-3, 3-6, 6-3) at No. 6.
The Terriers return to the court on Sunday, March 10 when they host the Mercer Bears. The match is set to begin at 2:00 p.m. at the Reeves Tennis Center.
College of Charleston 7, Jacksonville State 0
Penn State 5, College of Charleston 2
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - The No. 61-ranked College of Charleston women's tennis team knocked off Jacksonville State 7-0 this morning at the College of Charleston Tennis Center at Patriots Point.
It was the first match of a parents weekend doubleheader today with No. 34-ranked Penn State still to come this afternoon at 2 p.m. (ET).
The win improves CofC's record to 6-4 while the Gamecocks fall to 4-8.
The College got off to a quick start in doubles as the duo of senior Irene Viana and freshman Katherine Schofield upended Raisa Guasti and Raphaela Lima of JSU 8-0 in the No. 1 position.
Senior Oliva McMillan and freshman Brooke McAmis topped Danielle Kerindi and Kelly Tomlin 8-1 in No. 3 doubles to clinch the doubles point for the College.
It was a great day for the Cougars in singles as senior Christin Newman, sophomore Samantha Maddox, McMillan and Viana all came away with wins.
Junior Jamie Harrell fought through a nagging shoulder injury to overcome Kelly Tomlin of the Gamecocks 6-2, 6-3 in the No. 6 spot.
Finally, in one of the most exciting matches of the day, Schofield came back to beat Olivia Nguyen of JSU 4-6, 6-3, 10-8 in the No. 3 slot.
"We started really strong in doubles today and that set the tone for the match," CofC Director of Tennis Angelo Anastopoulo said. "It was great to see Jamie Harrell get out there and battle through her injury and help us get a win. The team played with a lot of enthusiasm and it's always a good day for us when we can win all of our matches against a quality opponent like Jacksonville State."
After this afternoon's match, CofC will only have one day off before hosting East Tennessee State (4-2) at 1:30 p.m. (ET) at the College of Charleston Tennis Center.
Saturday's match against Penn State was the second half of a parents weekend doubleheader for the Cougars' (6-5) after they overcame Jacksonville State this morning.
Doubles got off to a promising start for CofC when the Greensboro, N.C. tandem of senior Christin Newman and freshman Brooke McAmis knocked off Petra Januskova and Devan McCluskey of the Nittany Lions 8-3 in the No. 3 position.
The other two Cougar doubles duos today were senior Irene Viana and freshman Katherine Schofield in the No. 1 spot and the sophomore combination of Samantha Maddox and Jenny Falcone in the No. 2 slot. Both doubles pairs held leads around the halfway points of their sets before Penn State came back to take the doubles point.
Falcone got revenge for Penn State's doubles comeback by pulling off one of her own to defeat Carmen Sandor of the Nittany Lions 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 in No. 4 singles.
In the last match of the day, McAmis staged a come-from-behind win to beat Jacqueline Zuhse of Penn State 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 on Court 3.
"I give a great deal of credit to Penn State for that win," CofC Director of Tennis Angelo Anastopoulo said. "They showed a lot of guts to beat us on our home courts. It was nice to have Kelly (Kambourelis) back in the lineup today, she did great and it looks like she's recovering really well from the stress fracture she had in her foot. I was pleased overall with the match, we still to improve to compete in the difficult Southern Conference but we learned a lot today."
Georgia Southern 6, Savannah State 1
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern Women's Tennis was on a mission today. The Eagles cruised past Savannah State (2-8, 0-5 MEAC) with a score of 6-1 in a match that took less than two hours total, sweeping the doubles point before taking home five out of the six singles matches.
"It's nice to come away with a win," said Head Coach Amy Bonner. "Any time we take the court we are ready to compete and do are best and use it to prepare for those SoCon matches. So any time we're out here we're competing hard, representing Georgia southern and our athletic department."
An excellent doubles performance gave the Eagles (4-6, 1-2 SoCon) the first point of the day. The Eagles swept the first portion of the match thanks to victories by Paola Garrido and Stephanie Woods on court one (8-2), Jordana Klein and Natalie Maffett on court two (8-1) and Mary Phillips Smith and Morgan Springer on court three (8-5).
The Eagles continued their winning ways as senior Maffett defeated her opponent Davita Washington in an extremely quick 6-0, 6-0 match at the number five spot. Freshman Smith followed quickly thereafter with a 6-1, 6-0 win of her own over Nicole Ashiedu on court four.
Klein picked up a win on court two, beating Andrea Pavlovic 6-0, 6-0 for her career first match clinching point in the blue and gold.
Freshman Woods and junior Garrido finished out the score with wins on court three and one. Woods breezed by Esmira Gheisary 6-1, 6-0, while Garrido was the last one standing on the court in a lengthier 6-0, 6-0 win over Sandra Kristjansdottir.
In the five singles matches the Eagles won, they only dropped a total of two games and all of them came in straight sets.
The Eagles now shift gears and focus towards conference play again. Next up are Davidson and Appalachian state in two away matches next weekend