Samford 5, Furman 2
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Samford University women’s tennis team improved its 2015 home record to 6-2 on Saturday as the Bulldogs registered a momentous 5-2 Southern Conference victory against the Furman Paladins in the teams’ league-opening showdown held at the Samford Tennis Center.
With the victory, Samford (7-7, 1-0 SoCon) notched its second straight triumph and won its third match in its last five outings. Since falling short against Tulane on March 14, the Bulldogs have tallied back-to-back victories over UMass, 4-3, and Furman (4-11, 0-1 SoCon), 5-2.
Samford opened Saturday’s match with a huge bit of momentum by grabbing the all-important doubles point.
After the teams split contests on courts No. 2 and No. 3, the Bulldogs’ No. 65-ranked combination of Stephanie N’tcha and Carita Moolman notched a thrilling 8-7 triumph over Furman’s duo of Alex Moreno-Kaste and Ansley Speaks to secure the doubles point and jump out to an early 1-0 team lead.
The Bulldogs’ first victory in doubles play occurred on court No. 2 as Yasmeen Ebada and Jessica Northcutt topped the Paladins’ Blair Martin and Alejandra Gil, 8-4.
Already this season, Samford’s doubles pairing of N’tcha and Moolman owns a brilliant 9-3 record. Additionally, the Bulldogs’ Ebada and Northcutt are 8-3 in dual-match play this spring.
Furman bounced back with a pair of victories in the singles competition, but Samford continued its stellar play and salted away its 5-2 SoCon win with triumphs on courts No. 1, No. 3, No. 4 and No. 6.
The Bulldogs’ N’tcha, Northcutt, Moolman and Wood all registered straight-set victories against the Paladins as Samford earned its league-opening tally.
On court No. 4, the Bulldogs’ Moolman improved her dual-match record to 8-3 this season with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Furman’s Karlee Bryde.
UNCG 4, Appalachian State 3
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG women’s tennis team earned a tough 4-3 victory against Appalachian State Saturday at the UNCG Tennis Courts.
The Spartans improve to 6-7 on the season and App. State falls to 6-11.
UNCG won all three doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead. Junior Soumeya Anane and sophomore Masey DeMoss earned a 8-4 victory against Sarah King and McKayla Zupan at No. 3 doubles.
At No. 2 doubles, senior Stephanie Falcon and freshman Blaine Boaz took down Melissa Machado and Megan Mullen, 8-5.
In the final doubles match, senior Kayla Gammie and freshman Corinne Blythe defeated Mackenzie LaSure and Clare Cox, 8-5, at No. 1 doubles.
In singles, Falcon won in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0 at No. 2 singles to give UNCG a 2-0 lead. Junior Amy Ellis won in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2 at No. 3 singles against Brianna Armellino.
Clare Cox defeated Gammie 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 at No. 1 singles and Gabrielle Wreder took down Blythe, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) at No. 4 singles.
Appalachian State tied the match at 3-3 after Machado won in straight sets against Boaz, 7-5, 6-4 at No. 5 singles.
Junior Jamie Grinberg (Chapel Hill, N.C./East Chapel Hill) prevailed in three sets against Zupan, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 at No. 6 singles to help the Spartans defeat Appalachian State, 4-3.
Davidson 5, Western Carolina 2
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – The Western Carolina women’s tennis team welcomed in former Southern Conference foe Davidson Saturday afternoon. The Catamounts, who were playing shorthanded, put up a strong fight but fell to the Wildcats 5-2.
WCU dropped to 3-9 overall this season while Davidson improved to 9-6.
Senior Megan McLinden, who saw her seven-match singles streak snapped against ETSU last weekend, picked up a hard-fought 4-6, 6-1, 10-7 at the number one spot against Elaina Cummer. Junior Erin Maguire earned WCU’s other point at No. 4 as she downed Sarah Stein 4-6, 6-3, 10-8. The win was Maguire’s fifth of the season.
Junior Nicole Nielly and freshman Montse Mesalles teamed up to win the No. 2 doubles match over Anna C. Feaster and Ally Sexton 8-7 (5) but WCU was unable to secure the doubles point as Bettiol and McLinden fell at No. 1 by the slimmest of margins 8-6.
Nielly dropped her opening set at No. 3 singles in a tiebreaker 7-6 (4) before falling in the second set 6-2. Mesalles also put up a strong fight at No. 5 singles as she dropped the first set 7-5 before falling 6-1.
Bettiol’s match at No. 2 singles was tight the entire way as she fell 6-4, 6-4 to Feaster.