Chattanooga 5, UNCG 2
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s tennis team defeated visiting Southern Conference opponent UNCG 5-2 this afternoon. The win brings the Mocs record to 15-3 overall and 6-1 in league play.
Chattanooga started off hot in doubles action winning No. 1 and No. 3 while only dropping a combined three games. .
The doubles team of sophomore Kelsey Coots and junior Claire Mulyadi struck first when they defeated their opponents 8-1 at No. 3.
Junior Kaylene Chadwell and senior Alexa Flynn followed shortly after with an 8-2 win at No. 1 doubles. It was the fifth win in a row for Chadwell and Flynn. They remain undefeated in SoCon action at 7-0 and are 10-1 at No. 1.
The Mocs transferred that energy from doubles to singles when they won the first set on five courts.
Flynn fell behind 0-4 at the start of the match against Staphanie Falcon. Fortunately, she found the energy she needed, winning the next 12 games in a row for the victory (6-4, 6-0).
Chadwell won for the fifth time in a row at No. 2, improving to 7-0 in league play and 15-2 in the spring. Coots won her fourth straight match at No. 4 where she is 12-3 this spring.
Appalachian State 5, Wofford 2
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – With the Terriers within a point of the Mountaineers, Gabrielle Wreder won at No. 3 singles and Clare Cox clinched the match on the top court as the Wofford women’s tennis team fell to Appalachian State, 5-2, on Senior Day, Saturday afternoon at the John E. Reeves Tennis Center.
The loss puts the Terriers at 5-13 overall and 1-7 in the Southern Conference while the Mountaineers improve to 6-15 overall and 2-6 in the conference with the win.
Appalachian State took a 1-0 lead as they won the doubles point. Cox and McKayla Zupan won their match on the second court, 8-1, and Brianna Armellino and Megan Mullen clinched the point on the third court, 8-5.
Wofford’s top court duo of Julia Paulson and Sarah Evans on their match defeating Mackenzie LaSure and Wreder, 8-5 making the doubles point score 2-1 in favor of Appalachian State.
Jessica Thaggard started off singles for the Mountaineers with a win at the No. 5 position, 6-2, 6-2, to give Appalachian State a 2-0 lead.
Audrey Coventry brought Wofford back into the match, 2-1, as she defeated LaSure, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3. Armellino then extended the Mountaineer lead, 3-1, defeating Wofford’s Mareli Sanchez on court four, 6-3, 7-5.
Cox then clinched the match for Appalachian State on the top court battling and defeating Evans, 7-6 (7-3), 6-0. Wreder then added a fifth point for the Mountaineers beating Paulson, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 6-4.
Kalli Karas added Wofford’s second point of the match as she defeated Mullen, 6-0, 5-7, 6-1.
Furman 6, Georgia Southern 1
STATESBORO, Ga. – The 64th-ranked Furman women’s tennis team remains atop the Southern Conference standings following a 6-1 win over Georgia Southern Saturday at the Wallis Tennis Center in Statesboro, Ga. With the win, the Paladins extended their winning streak to seven matches entering the final week of the regular season.
Furman swept the singles matches to claim the opening point. Junior Alex Moreno-Kaste and senior Katherine Oudin teamed up for an 8-2 win over Francisca Norregaard and Paola Garrido in the top match-up, and the Furman freshman duo of Blair Martin and Ansley Speaks won a close 8-7 contest against Giulia Riepe and Stephanie Woods at number two. At flight three, freshman Karlee Bryde and senior Amanda Murray held on to defeat Jordana Klein and Mary Phillips Smith, 8-7.
The Paladins won five singles matches, four in straight sets, for the team victory. Speaks, the SoCon Player of the Month for March, defeated Garrido, 6-3, 7-5, at flight one, and Moreno-Kaste beat Klein, 6-2, 6-2, at number two. In the number three match-up, Oudin beat Daria Vasekina, 6-1, 6-1, while Bryde registered a 6-1, 6-1 advantage over Woods at number four.
The Eagles scored their lone point of the day at flight five, where Riepe defeated junior Kelly Sullivan, 6-3, 6-1. The flight six contest went to a third set, but Martin came from behind to top Smith, 2-6, 6-0, 6-1.
Samford 5, Western Carolina 2
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University women’s tennis team continued its dominance at home this season Saturday as the Bulldogs tallied a 5-2 victory against the Elon Phoenix in a crucial Southern Conference matchup held at the Samford Tennis Center.
Samford (15-2, 6-1 SoCon) owns an unblemished 10-0 record at home this season and has not been defeated at the Samford Tennis Center since March 23, 2013. Since then, the Bulldogs have rattled off 12-consecutive victories when playing in Birmingham.
Saturday’s win also proved to be Samford’s 13th triumph out of its last 14 meetings. The Bulldogs are currently in the midst of a three-match winning streak with victories against Wofford, 7-0, Lipscomb, 7-0, and Elon (10-7, 4-2 SoCon), 5-2.
Against the Phoenix on Saturday, Samford earned the all-important doubles point and then received singles wins from Stephanie N’tcha, Yasmeen Ebada, Emily Mallory and Lauren Caballero.
The doubles point proved to be a huge advantage for the Bulldogs as Kristin Lewis and Mallory fended off a charge from Elon’s combination of Jordan Johnston and Barbora Lazarova, 8-7. With their win, Samford’s Lewis and Mallory secured the Bulldogs’ key 1-0 advantage in the match.
In singles play, Ebada improved to 15-1 this season with a quick 6-0, 6-1 triumph against the Phoenix’s Lazarova on court No. 3.
Also winning in straight sets for Samford on Saturday were N’tcha on court No. 1 and Mallory on court No. 6. N’tcha, the Bulldogs’ talented junior from Abomey-Calavi, Benin, defeated Elon’s Johnston, 6-3, 6-4, while Mallory topped Taylor Casey, 6-4, 6-2. With their wins, N’tcha improved to 13-3 as Mallory moved to 12-2 this season.
As a team, Samford boasts a brilliant 79-20 overall record in singles play this year.
Davidson 5, Western Carolina 2
DAVIDSON, N.C. — Led by senior Brites Moniz-Soares, the Davidson women's tennis team halted their six-match losing streak with a solid 5-2 win at home against Western Carolina Saturday afternoon in Southern Conference play at the Covington Tennis Courts.
Moniz-Soares again went 2-0 on the day after picking up a pair of wins the day before at Charlotte. The Wildcats (7-15, 2-5 SoCon) also continued their dominance of WCU (1-14-1, 0-6 SoCon) in the all-time series, moving to 26-1 since 1982.
For the fourth time this year, Davidson won all three doubles positions to gain an early 1-0 lead in team points. The pair of Moniz-Soares and Elaina Cummer pushed their win streak to three in a row with an 8-6 win. They improved to a team-best 10-9 at No. 1 doubles.
The duo of Jenna Brunner and Nisha Crouser cruised to their third win of the season with an impressive 8-1 decision, while Tamara Hill and Blake Nickles evened their record at 2-2 with an 8-6 win at No. 3.
The senior Moniz-Soares led the way in singles action, taking home a three-setter for her third straight win, and Davidson went on to win four of the six matches for the team victory. The Wildcats' No. 1 singles player, Moniz-Soares, regrouped after falling 6-3 in the first set to win a tie-breaker in the second set and then seal up the match with a 6-4 decision in the third set. She moved to a team-leading 12-9 on the year.
Cummer ran her record to 8-14 with a 6-3, 7-5 win at No. 2, while Brunner needed a third set to seal up her 10th victory of the season. The freshman won the first set at No. 4 singles, 6-2, but dropped a 7-5 decision in the second set. Brunner came back strong in the final set with a 6-1 win.
Scoring the final team point for Davidson was Hill, who took care of her opponent in two sets with a 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 5 singles for her third victory of the season.