Appalachian State 6, Georgia Southern 1
BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State women's tennis claimed its third straight conference win to add to an already strong season, when it handed SoCon foe Georgia Southern a 6-1 decision at ASU Tennis Courts on Sunday afternoon.
The Mountaineers (11-4, 3-0 Socon) opened the match on a high note after duo Ellie Linsell and Mackenzie LaSure finished 8-3 against the Eagles' (5-7, 2-3 SoCon) Paola Garrido and Mary Phillips Smith to capture No. 1. GSU responded, however, with an 8-3 victory over Clare Cox and Jennifer Ansari at No. 2 to split the matches and bring it to a deciding third, where Jordana Klein and Caitlin Kitchen outlasted Brianna Armellino and Gabriela Celi to an 8-4 win for the doubles' decision and 1-0 advantage heading into singles action.
Appalachian pulled the momentum back in its favor and never looked back when the Mountaineers swept through singles competition. The Mountaineers put up victories in the first three matches of the afternoon with Linsell overcoming Garrido in a 6-3, 6-0 win at No. 1 to knot the Mountaineers at one with the Eagles. Armellino added a 6-3, 6-1 victory against Stephanie Woods in No. 3 flight, and Gabriela Celi posted a 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 6 to advance the Black & Gold by one (3-1).
Not far behind, Ansari and Thaggard nailed the fourth and fifth matches with 6-4, 6-2 and 6-0, 6-4 wins, respectively. Rounding out Appalachian's impressive afternoon was Clare Cox who defeated Jordana Klein in a tiebreak (6-4, 7-6 (7-2)) to secure the Mountaineer victory.
East Tennessee State 7, Western Carolina 0
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Catamount tennis lost during today's match against the East Tennessee State Buccaneers, 7-0.
"Having one player out of our lineup with an injury, the girls knew we would have to dig deep and fight harder against a solid ETSU team," said head coach Chris Wollett.
The Buccaneers finished doubles play with a clean sweep. WCU's Stacia Kissell and Shannon Bettiol battled point for point in the No. 1 match, but fell short losing 8-5. Nicole Nielly and Sara Ruiz lost 8-0 in the No. 2 match.
Nielly, in the No. 3 position, played another close singles match. She forced her competitor to work for every point, but ultimately fell 6-4, 7-5.
Kissell lost at the No. 1 spot 6-2 in both sets. Ruiz and Erin Maguire both lost their matches 6-0 in both sets at the No. 2 and No. 6 positions, while Shannon Bettiol was defeated 6-3, 6-1 in the No. 4 match.
Tennis will host UNC Charlotte on Friday, March 29 at noon at the Catamount Athletic Complex.