Chattanooga 5, Mercer 2
MACON, Ga. - Playing its first match as a ranked team, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's tennis team posted a 5-2 win at Mercer today. The Lady Mocs mixed their lineup and improve to 11-2 in spring action. Mercer dropped to 4-7 with the loss.
UTC won the first two doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead. Sophomore Claire Mulyadi and freshman Jovana Pecovski opened with an 8-2 win over Roxy Bartz and Natalie Franklin at No. 3. Junior Alexa Flynn and freshman Kelsey Coots followed with an 8-4 victory over Kaelee Heffner and Liza Klyachkin at No. 2.
Mercer evened the score at 1-1 when Bartz defeated freshman Alison Storie at No. 6 (6-0, 6-2). UTC won the next four matches to secure the win.
Coots put the Lady Mocs up for good with her (6-0, 6-3) win over Franklin at No. 5. Flynn followed with a (6-0, 6-2) win over Heffner at No. 4.
Senior Jenna Nurik also won in straight sets over Lucie Payrat (6-2, 6-1) at No. 1. Freshman Kayla Jones also won a tough battle (7-5, 7-5) over Klyachkin at No. 3.
The Lady Mocs have the weekend off before hosting Murray State on Wednesday, March 20. First serve is set for 2:00 p.m. on the UTC Tennis Courts.
Clemson 6, Furman 1
CLEMSON, S.C. - Clemson downed Furman, 6-1, Wednesday afternoon in women's tennis action at the Hoke Sloan Tennis Center in Clemson, S.C.
The Tigers swept the doubles to open the match, as Liz Jeukeng and Tristen Dewar teamed up for an 8-3 victory over senior Lauren Kline and sophomore Alex Moreno-Kaste at flight one, and Yana Koroleva and Romy Koelzer bested junior Amanda Murray and senior Michele Stanford, 8-2, in the second doubles match-up. At number three doubles, Ani Miao and Beatrice Gumulya notched an 8-1 win versus junior Margaret Boyette and sophomore Kelly Sullivan.
In singles action, 19th-ranked Koroleva recorded a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Kline in the top spot, and 34th-ranked Jeukeng beat junior Katherine Oudin, 6-0, 6-2, at flight two. Gumulya, ranked 45th nationally, topped Moreno-Kaste, 6-0, 6-1, at number three singles, and Koelzer defeated Stanford, 6-2, 6-4, in the flight four match-up. At flight five, Dewar posted a 6-2, 6-0 win versus Murray. The Paladins lone win came at number six singles, where Sullivan came from behind for a 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-7) victory over Carola Pederzani.
Furman (4-6, 1-0 SoCon) will play host to East Carolina Saturday at 10 a.m. The match is part of the USTA's Campus Kids' Days. Kids are invited to the meet the 2013 Lady Paladins and receive an autographed poster. Participants can enter a raffle for great prizes, take a picture with the team, and enjoy pizza and refreshments while cheering on the Paladins.
Gardner-Webb 5, Appalachian State 2
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - Appalachian State's women's tennis suffered a setback against non-conference opponent Gardner-Webb University in a 5-2 road loss.
With the win, the Runnin' Bulldogs (3-6, 0-2 Big South) snapped a two-loss streak, while the Mountaineers (9-3, 2-0 SoCon) halted a three-win streak, which included key victories against SoCon foes Chattanooga and Samford.
Appalachian quickly found itself with a 1-0 lead after doubles play. Ellie Linsell and Mackenzie LaSure fell 8-4 in No. 1 to Erica White and Jenny Lunde, who combined to grab their team-leading sixth doubles win of the season. The Mountaineers picked up an 8-2 win courtesy of No. 2 pair Jennifer Ansari and Clare Cox, while winning by default at No. 3 doubles to grasp an early 1-0 lead.
Moving into singles action, tiebreaks would be the deciding factor at No. 1 and No. 3, as GWU's White managed to win the first set against Linsell 7-6 (2). Brianna Armellino dropped set one to GWU's No. 3 player, Lunde, who also took it to a tiebreak 7-6 (3) in the first set, but finished Armellino in the second at 7-6 (3), 6-3 for the win.
Appalachian did not play a No. 6 player, thereby earning the point by default and forcing the Runnin' Bulldogs to win at least four matches, as would be the case when GWU rallied in No.'s 2, 3 and 4 singles.
At No. 2, Cox dropped the set to sophomore Yasmin Doost, who rallied after being down 4-3 in the deciding third frame to secure a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 win, while Jennifer Ansari fell victim to Valeriia Popko, who posted a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 comeback win at No. 4 singles.
At No. 5 flight, Gabriela Celi finished for a 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 loss to Rokia Sacko as White finished off a 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-2 win against Linsell at No. 1 singles to round out the Runnin' Bulldogs' 5-2 victory.
Up next, the Mountaineers continue spring break against UNC Wilmington on March 14 at 10 a.m., followed by a 2 p.m. match against Campbell on March 15.
Presbyterian 4, Wofford 3
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Wofford women's tennis team lost a 4-3 decision to visiting Presbyterian College Wednesday at the Reeves Tennis Center.
The Terriers took the opening match of the doubles as Julia Paulson and Lucy Schermerhorn defeated Patricia Alves and Courtney Gardiner 8-4 in the number two position. Presbyterian's Caroline deLoach and Kayla Stanford defeated Emily Prystawski and Mareli Sanchez at the number three spot, 9-7, to even doubles play. The Blue hosed clinched the point as Lindsay Krause and Greer Ranson defeated Sarah Evans and Othilia Lindqvist, 9-7 in number one spot.
The Terriers earn their first point as Paulson defeated Gardiner 6-0, 6-1, at number three, but Ransom took down Evans 6-4, 6-1 at the number one spot to give the Blue Hose a 2-1 lead. The two teams traded matches as Wofford got a 6-3, 6-2 win at number six from Schermerhorn beat Lucia Leahy, and PC earned a win at number five singles with Krause's 6-1, 6-4 win over Lindqvist. Wofford evened the match at three all, when Audrey Coventry rallied after dropping the first set to beat Alves 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) at number two singles. deLoach sealed the Blue Hose win after a back and forth match at number four singles with a 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-4) victory over Sanchez.
Wofford returns to the courts Saturday at 10 a.m. against the Charleston Southern.