Samford 7, Davidson 0
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- The No. 73-ranked Samford University women’s tennis team cruised to a 6-1 Southern Conference road victory against the Davidson Wildcats on Sunday as the Bulldogs remained undefeated in league play and improved to 4-0 against conference opponents this season.
With Sunday’s triumph, Samford (11-1, 4-0 SoCon) extended its winning streak to nine-consecutive matches and remained undefeated since Feb. 9. Already this season, the Bulldogs have tallied SoCon victories against Appalachian State, Western Carolina, Georgia Southern and Davidson (6-12, 1-3 SoCon).
Samford swept the doubles competition Sunday and took an early 1-0 advantage in the match. The Bulldogs have been dominant in doubles play this season and own an overall 29-5 record this spring.
On court No. 1, Samford’s combination of Kristin Lewis and Stephanie N’tcha improved to 4-0 this season with a hard-fought 8-7 (6) victory over the Wildcats’ duo of Brites Moniz-Soares and Elaina Cummer.
The Bulldogs proved to be triumphant in five of the six singles matches Sunday. With its continued success this spring, Samford used the wins to tally a 6-1 victory and extend its winning streak to nine-consecutive matches.
Overall, the Bulldogs boast a phenomenal 56-13 record in singles play this season.
Samford’s Yasmeen Ebada, the SoCon’s two-time reigning player of the week, extended her personal winning streak to 11-consecutive matches with a 6-3, 6-2 victory against Nisha Crouser.
The Bulldogs’ Jessica Northcutt, Emily Mallory, Lauren Caballero and Lewis were also winners in singles play Sunday. With their triumphs, Northcutt improved to 10-2, while Mallory and Caballero both moved to 7-2 this season. Samford’s Lewis extended her winning streak to three-consecutive matches and improved to 7-5 in dual-match play.
Wake Forest 6, Elon 1
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Elon University women's tennis team's eight-match winning streak came to an end today, March 16, with a 6-1 loss on the road against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at the Wake Forest Indoor Tennis Center.
"We played well in doubles and had several opportunities to win the point," said Elon head coach Elizabeth Anderson. "I was very impressed with Barbora's singles match. She showed a lot of positive energy, heart and played an extremely smart match. We are looking forward to a full week of practice and are excited about hosting Furman on Friday."
The Phoenix started the match hot with Bryn Khoury and Taylor Casey winning 8-5 on doubles court No. 3 against Karen Forman and Brigita Bercyte, but the Demon Deacons evened the doubles point with the No. 72 duo of Luisa Fernandez and Samantha Asch pulling away late to top Frida Jansaker and Maria Camara Ruizon court No. 2. Jansaker and Camara Ruiz kept the set close before Wake Forest got breaks to put the Elon duo away 8-4.
With a chance to win the doubles point for the Phoenix, Jordan Johnston and Barbora Lazarova broke Xue Zhang and Kasey Gardiner to go up 7-6, but the Wake Forest pair broke Elon to tie it at seven and send the set to a tiebreaker. Zhang and Gardiner went on to win the tiebreaker 7-3 to take the set and earn the doubles point from the Phoenix.
From there, the Demon Deacons kept rolling toward the victory with wins on court Nos. 1, 2 and 4 before Elon picked up a point from Lazarova on court No. 2. The junior defeated Asch 6-2, 6-4 to earn Elon's only point of the afternoon.
Both Casey and Tolley Rice on court Nos. 5 and 6, respectively, quickly dropped first sets against their opponents, but the two both put up fights in their second sets before ultimately falling.
With nonconference action now in the rearview mirror, Elon returns home after its brief two-match road trip this Friday, March 21, against Furman. The match at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center against the Paladins is set for 2:30 p.m.