Furman 5, East Carolina 2
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Furman clinched the doubles point and won four out of six singles matches to top East Carolina, 5-2, Saturday at the Mickel Tennis Center in Greenville, S.C.
Paladin senior Margaret Boyette and freshman Karlee Bryde notched a quick 8-3 victory over Emily Groeneveld and Elizabeth Zurawel at flight three doubles, then junior Alex Moreno-Kaste and senior Katherine Oudin held on for an 8-7 win versus Michelle Castro and Nicole LaDuca in the top doubles match-up to take the opening point. The flight two match was unfinished.
In singles play, freshman Ansley Speaks bested Nicole LaDuca, 6-3, 6-2, at flight two, and Oudin recorded a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Groeneveld at number three. Bryde defeated Maria Storozheva, 6-2, 6-2, at flight three, then Boyette topped Zurawel, 6-3, 6-2, in the number six contest.
The Pirates picked up two singles wins, as Castro came from behind to beat Moreno-Kaste, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, in the top singles match-up, and Dana Gray registered a 6-2, 6-4 win over Sullivan at flight five.
Furman (4-3) will participate in the USTA's Campus Kids' Days on March 1, when the team plays host to Winthrop. Activities begin at 12:30 p.m. at the Mickel Tennis Center in Greenville, S.C., with the match beginning at 1 p.m.
Elon 7, Radford 0
ELON, N.C. – The Elon University women's tennis team eased to a 7-0 sweep of the Radford Highlanders today, Feb. 22, at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center for its third straight victory.
"We did a really good job today against Radford," said Elon head coach Elizabeth Anderson. "We finally got some good weather, we had USTA Kids Day and we played smart tennis. It's a good day and good win for us with conference right around the corner."
Elon jumped on the Highlanders quickly in taking the doubles point. The pairing of Bryn Khoury and Taylor Casey soundly beat Taylor Fay and Gisela Garcia on court No. 3, 8-1, then Frida Jansaker and Maria Camara Ruiz topped Grace Sarver and Meg Napolitano with a 8-3 win on court No. 2 to collect the doubles point for the Phoenix.
Khoury kept the match rolling for the Phoenix with a 6-0, 6-0 win on court No. 3 against Sarver. Tolley Ricewon her third straight individual match to start her collegiate career on court No. 5, 6-0, 6-2, against Fay to extend the Elon lead to 3-0.
In her first singles action of the season, Viviana Stavreva clinched the match for the Phoenix with a 6-4, 6-2 win on court No. 6 against Garcia.
Jordan Johnston secured her third consecutive individual win on court No. 1 with a 7-5, 6-0 defeat of Gemma Valls. She was shortly followed by Casey, who held off a hard-charging Napolitano on court No. 4 to earn a 6-1, 7-5 victory.
Barbora Lazarova finished the sweep with a come-from-behind 3-6, 7-5, 1-0 victory on court No. 2 over Taylor Newman.
Chattanooga 5, Middle Tennessee 2
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Prior to last season, Middle Tennessee was a huge thorn in the side of the Chattanooga women’s tennis team. These two programs met in non-conference action every year between 2000 and 2012, and every year the Blue Raiders came away victorious.
UTC finally broke that 13-match slide in 2013 and officially turned the tables on MTSU with today’s 5-2 win at the Buck Bouldin Tennis Center in Murfreesboro. Chattanooga’s second-straight win in the series lifts it to 6-2 overall while Middle Tennessee drops to 4-2 in dual matches.
“It was a good team win today,” stated head coach Jeff Clark. “We were able to get out to a good lead and then post two come-from-behind wins. I was definitely pleased with our effort.”
UTC won the doubles point to go ahead 1-0. Junior Claire Mulyadi and sophomore Kelsey Coots opened with an 8-0 shutout over Flavia Nagayama and Sarah Sediri at No. 3. Senior Alexa Fynn and junior Kaylene Chadwell clinched the point with an 8-4 win over Tiffany William and Jesse Grace at No. 1.
Sophomore Alison Storie put the Mocs up 2-0 with an impressive (6-1, 6-1) win over Alexandra Torres at No. 6. The Blue Raiders responded with Nayara Moraes’ 6-2, 6-4 win over Flynn and No. 3.
Despite holding a 2-1 lead with four matches left, the outcome was in doubt for most of the match. MTSU held leads in three of the four remaining matches after the first sets were in the books.
Coots gave Chattanooga 3-1 advantage with her (6-4, 6-2) win over Nagayama at No. 4. UTC was in trouble in each of the last three, but Mulyadi was able to clinch the win. She lost the first set and was down 3-2 and a break in the third, before winning for of the last five games for a (4-6, 6-0, 6-4) win over Irina Constantine at No. 5
After sophomore Kayla Jones dropped a two-setter at No. 1, Chadwell ended the day with a three-set comeback win at No. 2.
UNCG 4, Gardner-Webb 3
GREENSBORO, N.C. – After falling behind 1-0, the UNCG women’s tennis team rallied back to defeat Gardner-Webb, 4-3, Saturday at the UNCG Tennis Courts.
With the victory, UNCG improves to 2-4 on the season while Gardner-Webb falls to 6-2.
With the Spartans leading 3-2 in the match, sophomore Jamie Grinberg clinched the match with a straight sets win against Valeriia Popko, 6-4, 6-4 at No. 4 singles.
Gardner-Webb took a 1-0 lead after taking winning two of three doubles matches. Devon Sutherland and Kayla Gammie defeated Yasmin Doost and Ronia Hutterli, 8-0 at No. 1 doubles. Mary Walker Mixon and Teodora Stanciu took down Alisha Burton and Stephanie Falcon, 8-3, at No. 3 doubles. At No. 2 doubles, Jenny Lunde and Rokia Sacko outlasted Yasmin Franco and Grinberg, 8-7 (7-4) in the tiebreaker to clinch the point.
In singles play, Franco won in straight sets against Hutterli, 6-0, 6-2 to tie the match at 1-1. Sutherland gave UNCG its second point with a 6-0, 6-3 victory against Catherine White at No. 6 singles.
Gardner-Webb tied the match at 2-2 after Lunde defeated Gammie, 6-4, 6-3 at No. 2 singles.
Falcon gave the Spartans a 3-2 lead after taking down Doost, 6-3, 6-1 at No. 1 singles.
In the final match, sophomore Amy Ellis lost a tough three set match against Sacko, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. Ellis won the first set 6-2 but lost the final two sets, 6-3, 6-4 for just her second loss of the season.
Charleston Southern 7, Wofford 0
CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Wofford women’s tennis team fell to the Buccaneers of Charleston Southern, 7-0, Saturday afternoon at the Buccaneer Tennis Complex.
The Terriers fall to 4-3 overall with the loss and the Buccaneers improve to 3-3 with the victory.
Charleston Southern swept Wofford in doubles play to take an early 1-0 lead. The Buccaneers clinched the point at the No. 1 doubles position.
In singles play, Charleston Southern was able to take all six singles points. Senior Sarah Evans fought in a close second set to Marketa Placha, but the Buccaneers clinched the match as she lost in a tiebreak, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5).
The Terriers are back in action on Friday when they host Southeastern Conference opponent University of Missouri at 9 a.m. at the John E. Reeves Tennis Center.
Coastal Carolina 6, Appalachian State 1
CONWAY, S.C. – Appalachian State University women's tennis dropped its second match of the weekend in a 6-1 loss at Coastal Carolina on Saturday at the Billy Nichols Tennis Center.
The Mountaineers (1-4) were unable to overcome the strong play of the Chanticleers (8-1), picking up just one win on the day.
Gabrielle Wreder was Appalachian's lone point-scorer as she snagged a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 4 singles as Coastal won the doubles point and all remaining five singles matches.
Clare Cox was able to send her match at No. 1 into a decisive third set, but ultimately fell by a score of 6-5, 3-6, 10-6 while Jessica Thaggard did the same at No. 5 (6-3, 2-6, 10-5).
Mackenzie LaSure dropped her match at No. 2 (6-4, 6-5) while Brianna Armellino lost at NO. 3 (6-3, 6-0) and Sarah King fell at No. 6 (6-1, 6-0)
Coastal Carolina swept doubles play with 8-2, 8-5 and 8-4 wins at No. 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The Mountaineers will wrap up their three-match road trip when they take on Presbyterian at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Western Carolina 3, Presbyterian 3
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – On Saturday afternoon, in their first home match of the 2014 campaign, Western Carolina and Presbyterian College played to a 3-3 draw at the tennis courts of the Catamount Athletic Complex.
Western Carolina (0-4-1) gained singles match wins from Stacia Kissel, Megan McLinden and Erin Maguire to help ensure a match draw.
“We came out there fighting at every position,” head coach Michaela Kissel-Eddins said. “To be able to win three of five singles matches is really huge.”
WCU (0-4-1) defaulted the No. 3 doubles match, to give Presbyterian (3-4-1) an early edge in gaining the point from the doubles matches.
The Blue Hose earned the doubles point from the No. 1 doubles match as WCU’s Stacia Kissel and Shannon Bettiol fell to Patricia Alves and Courtney Gardiner, 8-3. Each team split the first two sets, but Presbyterian won sets three through five to take a commanding lead. Kissel and Bettiol battled back to win point number six, but lost the next three. Trailing 7-2, WCU’s No. 1 doubles team won point number 10, but dropped the next point to end the match.
In the No. 2 doubles match, Sara Ruiz-Pajares and Megan McLinden were defeated by Caroline deLoach and Kayla Stanford, 8-4. Ruiz and McLinden fell behind 3-1 after four points but battled back to win points five, seven and nine, to draw within one. They failed to gain anymore ground, as deLoach and Stanford won the last three points to seal the set and match victory for the Blue Hose.
“Doubles is such a fast paced game, there really is no room for hesitation or fear on the court.” Kissel-Eddins said. “You have to really take it to your opponent. Today I thought we were very timid at times. For tomorrow, we just have to go out there and leave it all on the court, there’s no playing not to lose. We’ve got to go out there and take it.”
The Purple & Gold pulled back even at 1-1 as Stacia Kissel won her fourth match of the season defeating Greer Ransom in the No. 1 singles match, 6-1, 6-3. Kissel and Ransom split the first two sets of the first game then Kissel went on to win the next five points to claim a 1-0 lead in the match. In the second set Kissel fell behind early 2-1, but came back to win four of the next five points to capture the set at 6-3.
Erin Maguire also found the winning formula today as she won in straight sets against Antonia Conze, 6-3, 6-2, in the No. 5 singles match of the afternoon. Maguire was down early to Conze, 3-2, in the first set, but climbed back to take the last four points and claim a first set victory. Maguire continued her hot streak into the second set, claiming the first four points. Conze and Maguire split the final four sets, which sealed a Maguire victory and another singles point for the Catamounts.
In the No. 2 singles match of the day, Shannon Bettiol fell in a tough contest against Caroline deLoach, 7-5, 7-6. Neither participant gave the other any breathing room in this match, as Bettiol and deLoach traded the first ten points to stay even at five each. deLoach outlasted Bettiol to gain the last two points of the first set. The second set proved no differently as Bettiol and deLoach exchanged points, similar to set one. In the end, Bettiol dropped a tough last point to deLoach to end the match.
Ruiz-Pajares also was in a highly contested singles match against Patricia Alves. Ruiz-Pajares won the first set 6-3 but could not seal the deal, falling in the second set 6-2 then losing the third set tiebreak 6-2. In the first set, Ruiz-Pajares went down early 2-1, but captured five of the next six points to take the first set victory. In the next set, Ruiz-Parjares won the first two points and looked well on her way to a victory, but she dropped six straight points to lose the second set. Alves used the momentum of her second set victory to propel her to a third set win and match victory.
With the Catamounts trailing 3-2 in the overall match, Megan McLinden defeated Lucia Leahy 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, to give WCU the needed point for a draw. McLinden fell behind early in the first set and was unable to comeback, dropping set number one to Leahy. The second set, McLinden and Leahy battled back and forth early, but McLinden strung together multiple points in a row to gain the 6-2 second set victory.
In the third set, both McLinden and Leahy battled back and forth until the very last point. Receiving serve and trailing 5-4 in the third set, Leahy took an early lead 30-0 in the tenth point. Still holding serve, McLinden battled back to get the point to deuce at 40-40. In front of her teammates and other supporters, McLinden gained advantage on the first deuce and didn’t look back as she won the third set tiebreak, 6-4.
McLinden’s victory helped the Catamounts gain the draw against Presbyterian College.