Furman 7, Wofford 0
GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Furman women’s tennis team maintained a firm hold on the Pinson Cup with a 7-0 victory over Wofford Wednesday at the Mickel Tennis Center in Greenville, S.C.
Bobby and Dixie Pinson, beloved friends of both the Furman and Wofford program, have given the trophy and a generous donation in honor of the rivalry between the two schools. The trophy stays with the winning school until the winner of the next season’s match is determined, and Furman has been awarded the trophy each year since its inception in 2005.
The Paladins started off the match strong, sweeping the doubles matches to win the opening point. Senior Lauren Kline and sophomore Alex Moreno-Kaste teamed up to defeat Julia Paulson and Lucy Shermerhorn, 8-3, in the top spot, and senior Michele Stanford and junior Amanda Murray notched an 8-1 win versus Sarah Evans and Mareli Sanches in the flight two match-up. At number three, sophomore Kelly Sullivan and junior Margaret Boyette topped Othilia Lindqvist and Emily Przystawski, 8-1.
In singles action, Furman continued the sweep, as Kline came from behind in the second set for a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Evans at flight one, and Moreno-Kaste beat Audrey Coventry, 6-0, 6-1, in the second-seeded match. Junior Katherine Oudin recorded a 6-3, 6-2 advantage over Paulson at number three, and Stanford defeated Sanchez, 6-3, 6-1, at flight four. In the number five match, Murray bested Schermerhorn, 6-2, 6-1, while Sullivan bested Przystawski, 6-3, 6-1 at flight six.
Elon 7, Davidson 0
ELON, N.C. — The Elon Phoenix sent the Davidson women’s tennis team to their second Southern Conference defeat by taking a 7-0 decision at home Wednesday afternoon at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.
Davidson, which entered the all-times series 12-2 vs. the Phoenix (13-3, 3-2 SoCon), fell to 8-4 on the campaign and 0-2 in league play. Elon was ranked last week at No. 73 before dropping out with a pair of back-to-back SoCon defeats.
The Wildcats saw Elon sweep them in doubles action, dropping 8-6, 8-5 and 8-1 decisions at all three spots. Nisha Crouser and Stephani Synn saw their two-match win streak halted at No. 2 doubles.
In singles action, Crouser had her career and team-best seven-match win streak come to an end. She started out with a 6-4 win in set one, but dropped a 6-2 decision in the second set, then after the overall match had been decided, fell 11-9 in a tie-breaker. The junior fell to 7-3 on the year.
College of Charleston 6, Albany 1
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – The College of Charleston women’s tennis team got past its last two losses with a 6-1 win over Albany this afternoon at the College of Charleston Tennis Center at Patriots Point in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
With the win, CofC’s record improves to 8-7 while Albany falls to 5-8.
The Cougars started off well in doubles when the duo of sophomore Kelly Kambourelis and senior Olivia McMillan won their match 8-2 over Cheryl Kukkonen and Francine White of the Great Danes on Court 3.
The tandem of sophomore Samantha Maddox and freshman Brooke McAmis followed suit with an 8-2 victory over Mireille Hermans and Sarah Iannone of Albany on Court 2 to clinch the doubles point for the College.
In singles, McMillan improved her season record to 6-4 when she knocked off Kukkonen 6-0, 6-1 on Court 5.
Freshman Katherine Schofield utilized some strong serving to blank Iannone 6-0, 6-0 on Court 4.
Then, on Court 6, senior Irene Viana also did not allow White of the Great Danes to win a game as she sealed the win for the Cougars.
“I was very proud of the team after a tough loss yesterday to Cornell,” CofC Director of Tennis Angelo Anastopoulo said. “Our trainer Sarah Frye is doing a great job of helping our girls deal with their injuries so that they’re ready to get back out on the court. We have one more match to fight through tomorrow so hopefully we’ll be ready for it.”
The Cougars will close out their four-match home stand tomorrow, March 21 at 1 p.m. versus UMBC at the College of Charleston Tennis Center.
Georgia Southern 7, Nebraska-Omaha 0
HILTON HEAD, S.C. -- The Georgia Southern Women's Tennis team defeated Nebraska Omaha 7-0 in a Spring Break match at the Hilton Head Beach and Tennis Resort. The Eagles claimed wins in every doubles and singles match on the day.
Starting off the winning for the Eagles (6-7, 2-3 SoCon) were Natalie Maffett and Stephanie Woods. Playing the number two doubles, the senior-freshman duo quickly earned a 8-1 win against Jacqueline Baude and Rachel Pierson. Jordana Klein and Cailtin Kitchen followed with an 8-1 win of their own against Molly Matricardi and Lindsay Weideman on court three, having now won all three matches together as doubles partners. On court one, Paola Garrido and Mary Phillips Smith were battling out a tougher match with Tiffany Hottman Alex Tran but eventually came out on top with a score of 8-6.
Up by one, the Eagles never let down and earned wins on all six singles courts. Kitchen earned her second win out of three matches when she defeated Pierson 6-2, 6-0 on court six for the first singles victory of the day. Maffett finished shortly after Kitchen with a 6-0, 6-0 sweep of Hottman on court five, adding her team leading eighth win of the year.
Garrido clinched the match when she downed Matricardi 6-1, 6-1 at the number one spot.
With the match already played, three more Eagles added wins. Woods defeated Baude 6-4, 6-1 on court three and one court down Smith added a point for the Eagles after a 6-1, 7-5 win over Weideman. Lastly, Klein finished up the match with the only three-setter of the day in a 6-1, 2-6, 13-11 victory over Tran at the number two spot.
The Eagles continue the Spring Break Tennis tournament in Hilton Head with a match against Kansas on Thursday at 11:30 a.m.
Chattanooga 7, Murray State 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s tennis team posted its third straight win with a 7-0 shutout over Murray State at the UTC Tennis Courts today. The Lady Mocs improve to 12-2 overall with today’s win while the Racers drop to 4-7.
UTC opened by winning the doubles point for a 1-0 lead. Junior Alexa Flynn and freshman Kelsey Coots posted an 8-1 win over Megan Blue and Carla Suga at No. 2. Sophomore Claire Mulyadi and freshman Jovana Pecovski scored an 8-3 win over Erin Patton and Susan Stolz at No. 3.
UTC won every singles match in straight sets, beginning with Coots (6-0, 6-1) win at No. 4. She has won three straight to improve to 10-3 in the spring and 18-6 overall. She has not dropped more than three games in any of her last three wins.
Flynn put UTC up 3-0 with her (6-4, 6-0) win over Blue at No. 3. Mulyadi clinched the win with a (6-1, 6-2) win over Carolyn Huerth at No. 5.
The Lady Mocs also got singles wins from sophomore Kaylene Chadwell at No. 1, freshman Kayla Jones at No. 2 and Pecovski at No. 6.
Tulane 4, Samford 1
NEW ORLEANS, LA. – The Samford University women’s tennis team closed out its arduous four-match road swing Wednesday with a tough contest against the 39th-ranked Tulane Green Wave and suffered a 4-1 defeat at the hands of its highest-ranked opponent of the 2013 campaign.
Samford (6-9) remained winless on the road this season and moved to 0-7 when playing away from Birmingham, Ala. The setback also proved to be the Bulldogs’ fifth in a row, dating back to March 2 when they earned a 7-0 Southern Conference triumph over Western Carolina.
Tulane (11-6), which was recently tabbed as the No. 39-ranked team in the nation, has been victorious in eight of its last 10 outings, including top-40 wins over No. 38 Georgia State and No. 40 Ohio State. The Green Wave improved to 7-1 at home, 5-1 against Conference USA members and owns a 4-1 mark versus regional competition.
Of Tulane’s six losses this season, five have come against teams currently ranked ahead of the Green Wave in the national rankings: Auburn (No. 18), UC Irvine (No. 23), Texas Tech (No. 20), Rice (No. 27) and Virginia (No. 32).
Tulane swept the doubles point Wednesday and then received singles victories on courts No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 to claim the 4-1 team win.
Samford’s point came in the No. 2 singles match where sophomore phenom Stephanie N’tcha cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 victory over the Green Wave’s Ipek Birol. With her straight-set triumph, the Bulldogs’ All-SoCon performer improved to 9-5 in singles play this season and extended her winning streak to three-consecutive matches.