Chattanooga 4, ETSU 3
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - Drama seems to be the theme in recent University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s tennis matches. Last weekend, the Mocs knocked off Furman, 4-3, for their first win over the Paladins since 1997. Today, UTC came back from a 3-0 deficit to beat Southern Conference leader East Tennessee State, 4-3 in Johnson City.
For the Mocs, it was their eighth win in a row as they improve to 15-2 overall and undefeated in SoCon action at 3-0. The Bucs dropped to 10-4 on the year and are 3-1 in the SoCon after their first league loss.
UTC fought off numerous match points and won the last four bouts in three-set thrillers. In fact, two of the three doubles matches needed tiebreakers to decide the outcome.
Junior Kayla Jones and freshman Samantha Caswell opened with an 8-4 win over Lyn Yee Choo and Ana Gerbasi at No. 1. They improved to 14-2 in the top spot for the Mocs this spring.
Ioanna Markesini and Melissa Esquerra evened the doubles with a (8-7 (3)) win over senior Claire Mulyadi and Katie Polk at No. 3. The Bucs grabbed the doubles point when Jessica Brumit and Regina Nychytailova scored a (8-7 (4)) win over senior Kaylene Chadwell and junior Kelsey Coots at No. 2.
Things got really interesting in singles after ETSU won the first two matches at No. 2 and No. 5 to take a 3-0 lead. The Bucs only needed one more win to take the match.
It did not look good for UTC with Jones losing nine of the first ten games of her match against Choo at No. 1. She battled back to win a tiebreaker in the second set (7-6 (5)).
Down 5-3 in the third, Jones saved multiple match points before forcing another tiebreaker. The extra frame was also epic, as she fought off two more match points before finally winning 12-10 for a three set victory (0-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (10)).
Chadwell closed the gap to 3-2 with a three-set (6-2, 4-6, 6-1) win over Gerbasi at No. 3. The victory was pay-back for Chadwell who lost in straight sets to Gerbasi in the fall.
Caswell was next off the court with her sixth win in a row. She trailed 4-1 in the third and saved a match point when she was down 5-4. She won the last four games of the match to take a (6-3, 3-6, 7-5) three-set win.
The last match of the day was between a pair of Johnson City natives in ETSU’s Brumit and UTC junior Alison Stoire. Storie fell behind a set and was down 3-0 before storming back. She won the second set 6-4 and was in control throughout the third in her (2-6, 6-4, 6-3) win. It is the second straight match Storie has won the final match of the day to clinch the team victory.
Furman 7, Mercer 0
GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Furman women’s tennis team swept Mercer, 7-0, Thursday at the Mickel Tennis Center in Greenville, S.C.
The Paladins swept the doubles matches to claim the opening point. Sophomore Ansley Speaks and senior Alex Moreno-Kaste teamed up to beat Roxy Bartz and Garce Korta, 8-0, at flight one, and sophomore Blair Martin and rookie Alejandra Gil downed Xandra Fougner and Haley Powell, 8-4, at number two. Freshman Harper Caswell and sophomore Karlee Bryde beat Laura Kelly and Liza Klyachkin, 8-1, in the flight three contest.
Furman won all six singles matches to complete the sweep. Speaks held on for a 6-4, 7-6(6) win over Fougner at flight one, and Moreno-Kaste defeated Korta, 6-2, 6-1, at number two. In the flight three contest, Martin topped Bartz, 6-0, 7-6(4), while Bryde beat Powell, 6-0, 6-2, at number four. Flights five and six played an 8-point pro set, with Caswell downing Klyachkin, 8-1, at number five, and Gil recording an 8-6 win over Kelly at number six.
Western Carolina 5, Limestone 2
GAFFNEY, S.C. – The Western Carolina women’s tennis team picked up its fourth win of the season Thursday afternoon as the Catamounts downed the Saints of Limestone College, 5-2. The four wins is the most for the Catamounts since 2010.
"The girls played great today,” said head coach Michaela Kissell-Eddins. “Limestone is a very solid team and we really needed to stay focused and on top of our games to beat them. It was nice to capture the doubles point as well, with both of our teams playing aggressive but smart in the big moments."
Due to the threat of inclement weather the two teams decided to start the match with singles action before moving onto doubles.
The Saints picked up the first point of the match due to a forfeit at No. 6 singles. WCU would even the match at one apiece after senior Megan McLinden to No. 1 singles 6-3, 6-1 over Manon Janin.
Junior Erin Maguire gave WCU the lead with a win at No. 4 as she topped Hannah Hopkins 6-2, 6-1. Limestone quickly knotted the match at two as Jessica Martinez defeated freshman Montse Mesalles 6-2, 6-2 at No. 5.
Junior Nicole Nielly gave WCU the lead for good as she topped Marian Pinate 7-6 (2), 6-2 at No. 3 singles and junior Shannon Bettiol clinched the overall match with a 7-5, 7-5 win at No. 2.
The weather held off so the two teams were able to complete the doubles action. The Catamounts won at No. 1 and No. 2 but were forced to forfeit the No. 3 match due to having only five players. Bettiol and McLinden teamed up at No. 1 to defeat Alexandra Boulbin and Pinate 8-4 while Nielly and Maguire took down Hopkins and Kayla Meermans at No. 2, 8-6.
WCU will complete its stretch of three matches in three days tomorrow with a match at North Carolina Central at noon.