MT. PLEASANT, S.C. - No. 68 College of Charleston women's tennis defeated 67th-ranked Charleston Southern, 6-1, on Monday afternoon at Patriots Point. The victory is third straight for the Cougars and ninth home win of 2010.
CofC (17-9, 9-0 SoCon) moves to 3-8 against nationally-ranked teams, with all three victories coming against higher-ranked teams.
"We are proud as the Southern Conference regular season champions to defeat the Big South regular season champions," head coach Angelo Anastopoulo said. "Charleston Southern head coach, and former Cougar, Mike Baker has done a wonderful job in building his program. We knew it was going to be a tough match and we were lucky to defeat such a talented team."
Junior Kinsey Casey (Alpharetta, Ga./Northview) and freshman Irene Viana (Paris, France/Lycee de Montgeron) clinched the doubles point for the Cougars with an 8-4 win at the No. 2 doubles spot. The 31st-ranked doubles team of Holly Dowse (Tuncurry, Australia/Forster) and Emma Hayman (Wanganui, New Zealand/New Mexico) won their eighth straight match as the top seed with an 8-5 win over Andrea Schutte and Angie Torres.
Sophomore Caroline Newman (Greensboro, N.C./Page) was the first to win her singles match, increasing CofC's score to 2-0. Newman defeated Brooke Pletcher at the No. 3 spot, 6-0, 6-1. She is now 19-6 this season, including a 13-2 spot as the third seed.
Casey, Borza and junior Keely Mulligan (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep) followed Newman with victories in straight sets at the No. 4, 5 and 6 spots. All three Cougars stretched their win streaks to three matches apiece.
The Bucs (16-2, 7-0 Big South) got on the board with a 6-3, 7-6 win by Olga Makhova at the top spot. Makhova is 17-1 on the year with her only loss coming against the top seed from the NAIA National Champion Auburn University at Montgomery.
Hayman punctuated the match with a three-set win over Schutte at the No. 2 spot. After taking the first set 6-3, Schutte rebounded to win the second set 6-1. Hayman clinched the win with a 6-2 victory in the third set. She is now 9-8 as the second seed and 11-9 overall.
College of Charleston will celebrate its four seniors on Thursday when the team hosts Georgia Southern in its final regular-season match at 2:30 p.m. At stake is sole custody of the Southern Conference regular season title for the Cougars.
Singles
1. Olga Makhova (CSU) def. Holly Dowse (CofC) 6-3, 7-6
2. Emma Hayman (CofC) def. Andrea Schutte (CSU) 6-3, 1-6, 6-2
3. Caroline Newman (CofC) def. Brooke Pletcher (CSU) 6-0, 6-1
4. Kinsey Casey (CofC) def. Marija Dzakovic (CSU) 6-2, 7-6
5. Laura Borza (CofC) def. Susita Das (CSU) 6-0, 6-1
6. Keely Mulligan (CofC) def. Angie Torres (CSU) 7-6, 6-4
Doubles
1. No. 31 Holly Dowse/Emma Hayman (CofC) def. Andrea Schutte/Angie Torres (CSU) 8-5
2 Kinsey Casey/Irene Viana (CofC) def. Olga Makhova/Marija Dzakovic (CSU) 8-4
3. Susita Das/Brooke Pletcher (CSU) def. Laura Borza/Anna Lee Evans (CofC) 8-7
