Palaska Remains Undefeated at CofC Classic

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The College of Charleston women's tennis team was forced to battle much harder than they did Friday at the CofC Classic, but the Cougars nonetheless reaped strong results in the second day of competition.

The College opened the day with doubles action against Samford, and Helena Nyikos and Anastasia Palaska picked up where they left off, picking up a flawless 6-0 rout against Elsa Pool and Amanda Kilduff to give the Cougars the early advantage. The top two flights were fiercely contested by both teams. Liza Fieldsend and Rachel McNeely fought tooth and nail, but fell 7-6(7) in the end against Savannah Wood and Arianna Beltrame. However, Mara Argyriou and Christi Woodson came through in their own tie break, winning their first flight duel with Ellie Gerlach and Grace Jennings 7-6(2).

The Cougars pulled Marshall on the second day's round of singles play, and in was a tale of two halves, so to speak. The Thundering Herd got the best of CofC in the top three flights, but the College flipped the script in the lower flights to play Marshall to a 3-3 draw in singles play, with Mara Argyriou, Anastasia Palaska and Rachel McNeely all picking up victories.

Two of the Cougars' losses were of an epic, three-set nature. Christi Woodson grabbed a 7-6 tiebreak win over Stephanie Smith in the first set of the second flight before dropping the following two sets 6-2, 6-4. Helena Nyikos on the other hand came out firing with a 6-1, first set win in the third flight against Maddie Silver before dropping the second set 6-4 to force a third set. There, the two players battled to a tiebreak, where Silver narrowly edged Nyikos 7-6(5).

Through two days of action, Palaska stands alone as the only Cougar to sport a perfect 4-0 record in the tournament, having picked up a 6-0 doubles win over Winthrop's third flight and a fifth flight singles win over Samford's Grace Jennings (6-0, 6-4) on Friday

The Cougars will play their final day of the CofC classic, matching up against Marshall in doubles play and Winthrop in single action. Doubles is slated to begin at 9 a.m.

CofC vs. Samford (DOUBLES)
Argyriou/Woodson (CofC) def. Gerlach/Jennings (Samford) ~ 7-6(2)
Wood/Beltrame (Samford) def. Fieldsend/McNeely (CofC) ~ 7-6(7)
Nyikos/Palaska (CofC) def. Pool/Kilauff (Samford) ~ 6-0

CofC vs. Marshall (SINGLES)
Derya Turhan (Marshall) def. Liza Fieldsend (CofC) ~ 6-1, 6-3
Stephanie Smith (Marshall) def. Chriti Woodson (CofC) ~ 6-7, 6-2, 6-4
Maddie Silver (Marshall) def. Helena Nyikos (CofC) ~ 1-6, 6-4, 7-6(5)
Mara Argyriou (CofC) def. Rachael Morales (Marshall) ~ 6-1, 7-6(5)
Anastasia Palaska (CofC) def. Daniela Dankanych (Marshall) ~ 7-5, 6-3
Rachel McNeely (CofC) def. Nikola Novackova (Marshall)

Schedule

Players Mentioned

Mara Argyriou

Liza Fieldsend

Rachel McNeely

Helena Nyikos

Anastasia Palaska

Christi Woodson

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