Defending SoCon Champion Cougars Meet Wildcats in Semifinals of Conference Championships
4/21/2010 4:00:00 PM | Women's Tennis
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The 27th Annual Southern Conference Women's Tennis Championships return to Charleston this weekend on Saturday and Sunday.
The 65th-ranked Cougars host the tournament for the first time after clinching the No. 1 seed with a 6-1 victory over Furman on Apr. 7. The championships were hosted for seven straight years by The Citadel from 2001-2008. The Southern Conference changed the format for this year's championship, reducing the field to four teams and allowing the highest seed to host.
College of Charleston will face fourth-seeded Davidson on Friday in the first match of the day, scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. The second match pits No. 2 Samford against No. 3 Furman and will begin at 3 p.m.
Charleston (18-9, 10-0 SoCon) finished the season with wins over Wofford and Georgia Southern to grab the team's first regular-season conference title since joining the Southern Conference in 1998-99.
CofC enters the tournament as the defending Southern Conference Champions after defeating Furman 4-1 in the championship match in 2009. The second-seeded Cougars beat UNC Greensboro and Samford to advance to the final match. Head coach Angelo Anastopoulo's team also won the championship in 2003.
Leading the team in doubles will be senior Holly Dowse (Tuncurry, Australia/Forster) and junior Emma Hayman (Wanganui, New Zealand/New Mexico). The duo is 33rd in the nation, according to the latest ITA Poll and remains the only pair from the Southern Conference to be ranked. They have a 16-5 overall record at the No. 1 spot, including a 6-0 mark against conference opponents. Currently, Dowse and Hayman are on a nine-match winning streak.
Dowse also plays at the top spot in singles where she has an 8-1 record in SoCon action, with her only loss coming in the form of a close three-set tiebreaker against Elon's Anna Milian. Sophomore Caroline Newman (Greensboro, N.C./Page) boasts the best overall record among the Cougars with a 20-6 mark on the season, including a perfect 10-0 record in conference play. Newman has played primarily at the No. 3 spot where she is 14-2 but has also competed at the No. 1, 2 and 4 spots. She and junior Kinsey Casey (Alpharetta, Ga./Northview) are both on four-match win streaks.
Below is some information on each of the three other teams competing this weekend:
No. 2 Samford (17-5, 9-1 SoCon)
Samford earned the No. 2 seed with a 6-1 victory over Western Carolina on Apr. 18 for the Bulldogs ninth straight victory. Highlights of the season included the team's 6-1 victory over Furman that snapped the Paladins' 12-year, 100-match conference winning streak. Leading the team is sophomore Rebecca Kirven who holds a team-best singles record of 17-4, including a 9-1 mark in conference from the No. 5 spot. Sophomore Lindsey Mallory finished the conference schedule with a perfect 9-0 record as the sixth seed. In doubles action, Kirven teamed up with Andrie Meiring to go 9-1 against SoCon opponents as the Bulldogs' top doubles team. Samford concluded its regular season with a 5-3 record when on the road.
No. 3 Furman (15-7, 8-2 SoCon)
Furman is the only other school besides College of Charleston to have both men's and women's teams qualify for the SoCon Championships. Junior Monica Arguello was named the Southern Conference Player of the Week for the second time this season on Apr. 20 after going 2-0 in both singles and doubles competition to help the Paladins earn wins over Western Carolina and Davidson. Furman was stunned earlier this season with a road loss to Samford followed up by home loss to College of Charleston to lose the regular-season title for the first time since 2000. The Paladins bounced back to win the final four matches of the season and earn a No. 3 seed in the tournament. Arguello holds a 9-1 record against conference opponents at the No. 1 spot to tie Elon's Milian for the best in the conference. She also plays at the No. 1 spot in doubles where she and her partner, Lauren Kline, have a 5-2 conference record.
No. 4 Davidson (15-7, 7-3 SoCon)
The Wildcats ended their regular season with a 6-1 loss to Furman in their third match in four days. Davidson was swept in the doubles matches despite playing close in each, losing 8-5, 8-7, and 8-5. Junior Samantha Galainena won her 16th match of the season at the No. 5 singles spot for a career-high and team-best ninth consecutive win. The team is led by seniors Virginia Berry and Teresa Wang who have a 6-3 conference record at the top doubles spot. Stephani Synn is the only Wildcat to go undefeated in conference play with a 7-0 record at the No. 3 singles spot. She finished second in the conference among all players with a 15-3 overall record. Davidson's other regular-season conference losses were to College of Charleston (5-2) and Samford (6-1).
As always, fans unable to attend the event can follow the action through Live Stats, available at www.cofcsports.com. For more information on championship, visit www.soconsports.com.
