UNCG 4, Samford 3
GREENSBORO, N.C. - The Samford University women's tennis team suffered its third 4-3 heartbreaking loss of the 2013 campaign Sunday as the Bulldogs' singles rally came up just short in a Southern Conference road contest versus the UNCG Spartans held at the UNCG Tennis Courts.
Despite being swept in Sunday's doubles competition, Samford (6-7, 1-3 SoCon) used a trio of singles victories from Kristin Lewis, Stephanie N'tcha and Emily Mallory to even the overall score of the match at 3-3.
The decisive singles contest of the day came down to court No. 4 where UNCG (6-4, 3-0 SoCon) sophomore Stephanie Falcon squared off against the Bulldogs' true freshman Carita Moolman.
Moolman, Samford's native of Aranos, Namibia, won the first set by a score of 6-3, but then Falcon rallied back to take the second frame, 6-1. In the third set, Moolman and Falcon were knotted at 4-4 when the Spartans' native of Marietta, Ga., earned a break to garner a 5-4 advantage. With an additional point in the next game, UNCG's Falcon won the set, 6-4, to give the Spartans their 4-3 team victory.
Samford has struggled on the road this season and holds an 0-5 record when playing away from the Samford Tennis Center. The Bulldogs have also suffered identical 4-3 heartbreaking losses to UAB and Appalachian State this year.
The Bulldogs' Mallory used her singles win Sunday to improve to 8-3 in dual-match play this season. Samford's Lewis defeated UNCG's Niltooli Wilkins on court No. 1, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, to move to 8-4 in singles play this year.
Chattanooga 4, Elon 3
ELON, N.C. - University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's tennis team posted a huge Southern Conference win at No. 59 Elon today. The Lady Mocs snapped the nationally-ranked Phoenix's 11-match winning streak with the 4-3 victory at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.
UTC improves to 10-2 overall and evens its SoCon mark at 2-2 with today's win. Elon drops to 11-2 overall and 1-1 in league play. It was the first win over a ranked team in Jeff Clark's second stint at UTC.
The Lady Mocs rebounded after being swept in doubles to post four singles wins. This is the first win for UTC under Clark after being swept in doubles play. The last time the Lady Mocs battled back to win a match after losing the doubles point was a 6-1 win at UT Martin on March 3, 2012. However, UTC did win at least one doubles match in that comeback.
Sophomore Kaylene Chadwell clinched the match with her 11th straight victory at No. 2. She was down 3-0 in the second set before battling back to defeat Frida Jansaker (7-5, 6-4). This is the second-straight year Chadwell had defeated Jansaker in the deciding match to win a dual with the Phoenix.
Freshman Kelsey Coots started the comeback with a (6-2, 6-0) win over Barbara Lazarova at No. 5. Coots improved to 4-0 at No. 5 and evened the match at 1-1.
UTC took at 2-1 lead with freshman Kayla Jones comeback win at No. 3. She was down a set and 0-3 in the second, when she finally turned it on. Jones went on to defeat Viviana Stravreva (1-6, 6-3, 6-4) to improve to 11-1 in the spring and 22-3 overall.
Senior Jenna Nurik put UTC up 3-1 with her (6-3, 6-4) win over Jordan Johnston at No. 1. She avenged a three-set loss to Johnston in last year's meeting and improved to 10-2 in the spring and 15-8 overall.
The Phoenix evened the score at 3-3 with back-to-back wins at No. 4 and No. 6. Sophomore Claire Mulyadi lost for the first time in 11 matches this spring.
Wofford 5, Mercer 2
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Wofford women's tennis team defeated Mercer 5-2 Sunday afternoon in non-conference action at the Reeves Tennis Center. The Terriers improve to 5-4 on the year while the Bears drop to 4-6.
In doubles action, Wofford fell behind early after Emily Przystawski and Mareli Sanchez fell to Natalie Franklin and Roxy Bartz in the No. 3 spot. The Terriers evened the score after a win by Sarah Evans and Othilia Lindqvist over Isabel Dennis and Lucie Payrat 8-3 at the No. 1 position. Wofford clinched the doubles point when Julia Paulson and Lucy Schermerhorn defeated Liza Klyachkin and Kealee Heffner in a super tie-breaker 9-8 (10-4).
On the singles side, the Terriers won three match-ups in straight sets to secure the victory. First, Paulson cruised past Klyachkin (6-0, 6-2) in the No. 3 spot. Then Evans topped Dennis (6-4, 6-2) at the No. 1 position. Finally, Schermerhorn defeated Bartz (6-3, 6-4) at No. 6 to clinch the victory. Mercer would win the next two points after Lindqvist retired to Franklin in the No. 5 spot, and Heffner beat Sanchez (6-4, 1-6, 11-9) in a marathon third set at No. 4. The Final match of the day went to Wofford when Audrey Conventry defeated Payrat 7-6 (7-0), 4-6, and 1-0 (10-3) at the No. 2 position.
The Terriers return to the court on Wednesday, March 13 when they host the Presbyterian College Blue Hose. The match is set to begin at 2:30 p.m. at the Reeves Tennis Center.
North Carolina Central 4, Western Carolina 3
DURHAM, N.C. - Western Carolina women's tennis was nipped by a score of 4-3 for the second straight day, falling to North Carolina Central in Durham, N.C., at the NCCU Tennis Courts Sunday afternoon. The Catamounts fell to 1-7 while North Carolina Central improved to 5-2.
After falling in No. 1 doubles by a score of 8-1, Western Carolina came back to defeat NCCU in the No. 2 match with Stacia Kissell and Karen Jimenez winning by a score of 8-4. In the No. 3 match, NCCU took the doubles point with an 8-4 win.
Trailing in the match 0-1, Western Carolina needed to pick up four singles victories for the win. WCU tallied three singles victories and dropped two matches that went to three sets.
Stacia Kissell won her second straight match of the weekend with a decisive 6-1, 6-4 win over Olesya Palko in the No. 1 match. Shannon Bettiol and Erin Maguire cruised to victories with wins in the No. 5 and No. 6 matches by scores of 6-3, 6-2 and 6-0, 6-0. In the No. 3 and No. 4 matches, NCCU's Aissa Muamba and Rebecca Wood each won in three sets to give NCCU the home win.
After eight straight road matches, the Catamounts finally return to Cullowhee where WCU will play eight of its next nine beginning with a home contest against non-conference foe, Gardner-Webb. The Catamounts and the Bulldogs play Thursday afternoon at 2 p.m. at the Catamount Athletic Complex.