Cornell 4, College of Charleston 3
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – The College of Charleston women’s tennis team dropped a tightly-contested 4-3 match to undefeated Cornell this afternoon at the College of Charleston Tennis Center at Patriots Point in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
With the loss, CofC’s record falls to 7-7 while Cornell remains perfect at 10-0.
The Cougars started off well in doubles when all three CofC duos won their matches to claim the point for the College.
Singles presented more of a challenge for CofC as only the Greensboro, N.C. tandem of senior Christin Newman and freshman Brooke McAmis managed wins.
Newman improved her singles record for the year to 9-5 when she knocked off Christine Ordway of the Big Red 6-2, 6-1 on Court 1.
In the last match of the day, McAmis thwarted the comeback attempt of Cornell’s Ryann Young 6-0, 6-7, 6-3 on Court 2.
“It was an impressive comeback for Cornell today after they lost the doubles point,” CofC Director of Tennis Angelo Anastopoulo said. “I was very impressed with how Brooke (McAmis) battled through the shin splints she’s been suffering to win a big third set and hopefully that will give us some momentum going into tomorrow’s match. I was also really pleased with our doubles play today but there are still a few areas where we need to compete harder in order to get to where we want to be.”
The Cougars will be back in action tomorrow, March 19 at 2 p.m. versus Albany at the College of Charleston Tennis Center at Patriots Point.
Louisiana-Lafayette 5, Samford 2
LAFAYETTE, LA. – The Samford University women’s tennis team dropped a 5-2 decision against the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns on Tuesday as the Bulldogs couldn’t take advantage of a doubles sweep held at the Cajun Courts.
With the loss, Samford (6-8) remained undefeated on the road this season and moved to 0-6 when playing away from Birmingham, Ala. The setback also proved to be the Bulldogs fourth in a row, dating back to March 2 when they earned a 7-0 Southern Conference triumph over Western Carolina.
Louisiana-Lafayette (11-8) snapped its two-match losing streak and improved to 9-5 at home this season.
Samford swept Tuesday’s doubles competition to take an early 1-0 lead in the contest, but the Ragin’ Cajuns responded by winning three of the first four singles matches.
After earning victories on courts No. 4, No. 6 and No. 1, Louisiana-Lafayette garnered a 3-1 advantage in the nonconference showdown. Samford’s Stephanie N’tcha then rallied for a three-set triumph in the No. 3 singles contest, 5-7, 6-2, 6-0, to pull the Bulldogs within one point at 3-2.
The Ragin’ Cajuns’ Nicole Breaux clinched the victory on court No. 2 with a 7-5, 7-5 win over Samford’s Jessica Northcutt. Once the match was decided at 4-2, play continued on court No. 5 where Louisiana-Lafayette’s Bailey VanDyke held on for a three-set tally over the Bulldogs’ Emily Mallory, 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-3.
With N’tcha’s victory, Samford’s talented All-SoCon performer from Abomey-Calavi, Benin, improved to 8-5 in singles play this season, including an unblemished 6-0 at court No. 3.
N’tcha was also triumphant in doubles play against Louisiana-Lafayette as she teamed with Kristin Lewis to post a dominant 8-0 victory on court No. 1. The Bulldogs’ doubles tandems of Carita Moolman and Adri Lochner, as well as Northcutt and Mallory were also winners versus their Ragin’ Cajun counterparts Tuesday.
Samford’s Lochner and Moolman moved to 9-4 in doubles play this season and improved to 6-4 when competing in the No. 2 position.
Samford will continue its two-match Louisiana road swing Wednesday at 9 a.m. (CDT) as the Bulldogs square off against the 50th-ranked Tulane Green Wave in another regional matchup. Wednesday’s contest will be held at Tulane’s Goldring Tennis Center in New Orleans.
Charlotte 7, Wofford 0
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Wofford women’s tennis team was defeated on the road at Charlotte 7-0 Tuesday afternoon. The Terriers fall to 5-7 this season while the 49ers improve to 8-4.
In doubles action, Charlotte’s Anna Ekelund and Lisa Grosselius defeated Wofford’s Sarah Evans and Othilia Lindqvist 8-2 at the No. 1 position. The 49ers clinched the doubles point with an 8-5 victory by Jessica Pérez and Alexandra Zinn over Emily Przystawski and Mareli Sanchez in the No. 3 spot. The No. 2 match-up between Terriers Julia Paulson and Lucy Schermerhorn against 49ers Tyler Baker and Natsuko Takayanagi was unfinished.
On the singles side, four of the six match-ups required a third set but all went in favor of Charlotte. First, the 49ers doubled their lead after Iveta Guneva dispatched Przystawski in straight sets (6-0, 6-0) at the No. 6. Then, Ekelund defeated Wofford’s Schermerhorn (6-3, 6-2) at the No. 5 position to give the 49ers a 3-0 lead.
In the No. 1 spot, Evans battled Zinn in a tight third set but could not pull out the win (6-1, 2-6, 6-4). Takayanagi got the better of Wofford’s Audrey Coventry in a very close match at the No. 2 position. Takayanagi won the first set 6-4, but Coventry responded with a 6-4 win of her own in the second. In the third, Takayanagi was able to squeak by with a 7-5 win to clinch the point.
Wofford’s Paulson jumped in front of Grosselius early winning the first set 6-3 in the No. 3 spot. However, Grosselius responded and won the second and third sets 6-3 and 6-0 respectively. The day’s final match was another close one as Baker and Sanchez battled in three extremely close sets at No. 4. In the first set, Baker outlasted Sanchez 7-5, but Sanchez responded to win set two 6-4. Both players continued to fight in the third set, but Baker was the last one standing as she claimed the set 6-4.
The Terriers return to the court tomorrow, March 20, when they travel to Greenville, S.C. to face the Furman Paladins in Southern Conference play. The match is set to begin at 3:00 p.m.