Western Carolina 6, Savannah State 0
SAVANNAH, Ga. – The Western Carolina women’s tennis team picked up its third win of the season Tuesday afternoon in dominating fashion over Savannah State, 6-0. The three wins is the most for the women’s tennis program since 2010 when the Catamounts won four matches.
The Catamounts are now 3-5 on the year while the Tigers drop to 2-7.
"The girls have been playing some great tennis and it’s nice to see them all gaining confidence in their game plans,” said second-year head coach Michaela Kissell-Eddins. “We are getting so much better at maintaining our high level of play for entire matches and that's something we have been working on since last year. Our highs are getting higher and our lows are getting fewer and further between. We just need to keep focusing on the process and continue improving each and every day and we will put ourselves in positions to do great things."
Both teams were playing with a five-person roster so the No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles matches went uncontested.
Senior Megan McLinden picked up her fifth-straight singles win with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Kamelia Dimitrova as she improved to 6-2 overall and 4-1 at the No. 1 spot. McLinden is now just one singles win away from matching her win total from all of last season where she played primarily in the No. 3 slot.
Junior Shannon Bettiol and Erin Maguire each picked up their fourth wins of the season on the singles side. Bettiol defeated Sandy Lochu 6-1, 6-2 to take the No. 2 point while Maguire downed Bria Burrows 6-1, 6-0 in a nearly perfect match.
Junior Nicole Nielly took the No. 3 singles match over Jennyfer Vivas, 6-2, 2-6, 10-4, to earn her third singles victory of the year which triples her win total from last season. Freshman Montse Mesalles blanked Tiffany Williams in the No. 5 spot, 6-0, 6-0, to earn her second win of the year.
McLinden and Bettiol teamed up to down Dimitrova and Lochu in the No. 1 doubles match 8-7 (7-4) while Nielly and Mesalles downed Vivas and Burrows 8-2 in the No. 2 match.
North Florida 5, Furman 2
ORLANDO, FLA. – UNF topped Furman, 5-2, Tuesday in a neutral match at the UCF Tennis Complex in Orlando, Fla.
The Ospreys won two of three doubles matches to clinch the doubles point. Luise Intert and Rebecca Pereira downed sophomore Blair Martin and freshman Joan van Lochem, 6-3, at flight two, and Quetzali Vazquez and Esther Zuniga defeated sophomore Karlee Bryde and freshman Harper Caswell, 6-0, at number three. The top flighted match was unfinished, with senior Alex Moreno-Kaste and junior Ansley Speaks leading Taylor Hollander and Marina Cunningham, 4-3.
In singles play, UNF picked up four singles wins for the team victory. Zuniga beat Moreno-Kaste, 6-2, 6-4, at flight two, and Valdez topped Martin, 6-1, 7-5, at number three. In the flight five match-up, Vazquez defeated Caswell, 6-0, 6-1, and Pereira recorded a 6-2, 7-5 win over van Lochem at number six.
Furman recorded two singles wins, as Speaks defeated Hollander, 6-1, 7-6(8), in the top-flighted contest and Bryde was victorious after leading Cunningham, 7-5, 3-1, when the flight four match was retired.
The Paladins (2-8) are in the midst of a Spring Break trip to Florida, where Furman will play at UCF on Wednesday at noon and will conclude the trip on Saturday at 11 a.m. at South Florida.
Charleston Southern 4, ETSU 3
CHARLESTON, S.C. - For the first time this season, the ETSU women's tennis team has suffered consecutive losses. Tuesday afternoon, ETSU was edged, 4-3, at Charleston Southern—the first of two matches for the Bucs in Charleston.
In the loss, the Buccaneers (6-3) failed to capitalize on multiple match points en route to falling just short, 4-3.
"We faltered big time today," ETSU coach Travis Sandlant said. "The chances we had were probably more than we deserved out there today. Once again, a team that fought harder than us were the winners on the day."
Charleston Southern tallied its fifth consecutive victory, improving its season record to an 8-1 mark.
ETSU's Aussie doubles duo of Jayde Viccars and Melissa Esguerra picked up a win at No. 3 Doubles, 8-6.
In singles play, Reginka Nychytailova, Lyn Yee Choo, and Ionna Markesini earned straight-set wins at No. 1, No. 2, and No. 6 Singles, respectively.
Esguerra and Ana Gerbasi suffered three-set losses at No. 3 and No. 4 singles, respectively.
Senior Jessica Brumit lost at No. 5 Singles, bringing an end to her 18-match regular season unbeaten streak dating back to last season. Brumit went an impressive 380 days between regular season singles setbacks, with her last loss prior to today coming Feb. 23, 2014.
Charlotte 6, Wofford 1
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Despite an impressive performance from sophomore Kalli Karas, the Wofford College women’s tennis team dropped a 6-1 decision to the Charlotte 49ers on Tuesday at the Halton-Wagner Tennis Center.
Karas led the way for the Terriers, earning a team point after a gutsy, three-set match. Karas faced Lisa Grosselius, rebounding from a first set loss to take the No. 3 singles spot, 6-7, 6-2, 10-7.
In doubles play, the 49ers swept Wofford. Karas and freshman Lauren Reid were swept, 6-0, at No. 1 by Victoria Pahlett and Grosselius. Sophomore Catherine Martin and junior Mareli Sanchez played at No. 2, falling 6-1 to Fleur Holtkamp and Natsuko Takayanagi, while Taylor Carlson and Samantha Russell dropped a 6-2 decision at No. 3 to Mary Vonderschmidt and Tyler Baker.
In singles, senior Audrey Coventry was the only other Terrier to stretch her match to three sets. Vonderschmidt eventually defeated Coventry at No. 2, 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.
Following the doubles point, Martin (No. 1, 6-1, 6-1), Sanchez (No. 6, 6-1, 6-2), Reid (No. 5, 6-1, 6-3) and Russell (No. 4, 6-3, 6-1) fell in straight sets, before Coventry and Karas finished.
The Terriers have a chance to bounce back tomorrow, as they host Presbyterian College at the Reeves Tennis Center. Admission is free, with first serve set for 3:00 p.m.
Troy 4, Mercer 1
FT. WALTON BEACH, Fla. – The Mercer women's tennis team fell to Troy, 4-1, on Tuesday morning in Ft. Walton Beach.
Troy took a 1-0 lead after winning the doubles point, but Roxy Bartz tied the match, 1-1, after winning her singles match by retirement. Troy won three straight singles matches to clinch a 4-1 victory.
Liza Klyachkin won her first set and was in a close second set, while Laura Kelly was playing a third set when the match was called.
Louisiana-Monroe 4, Mercer 0
FT. WALTON BEACH, Fla. – The Mercer women's tennis team dropped a 4-0 decision to ULM on Monday morning in Ft. Walton Beach.
Liza Klyachkin was a bright spot for the Bears, winning her first set 6-2 at the number six spot. Laura Kelly was also up 4-3 in her second set at the number five spot when the match was called.
Coastal Carolina 6, Western Carolina 1
HITLON HEAD, S.C. – The Western Carolina women’s tennis team traveled to Hilton Head, S.C., to take on Coastal Carolina in a neutral site match as part of its annual spring break trip. The Catamounts fell 6-1 in the match with senior Megan McLinden picking up her third-straight singles victory.
McLinden is now 5-2 on the year with three wins coming in the No. 1 spot and two at the No. 2 position. McLinden took down Libby Scott in the No. 1 spot Monday afternoon 6-1, 6-3.
The loss drops WCU’s record to 2-5 while the Chanticleers of Coastal Carolina improved to 6-4.
McLinden and junior Shannon Bettiol teamed up at the No. 1 doubles spot and fell to Sara Bondar and Honami Yazawa 8-4 while junior Nicole Nielly and junior Erin Maguire fell in the No. 2 spot to Scott and Marie Babavan 8-3.
Freshman Montse Mesalles dropped her match in the No. 5 singles slot 6-2, 6-0 to put the Catamounts behind 3-0 in the overall match. The clinching match came at the No. 2 spot as Bettiol fell to Yazawa 6-2, 6-2.
Maguire then dropped her match at No. 4 to Babavan 6-2, 6-3 before McLinden took the No. 1 match to cut CCU’s lead to 5-1. The final point came in the No. 3 match as Bondar took down Nielly 6-2, 6-3.