CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The top-seeded College of Charleston women's tennis team took down eight-seeded Appalachian State, 4-0, to advance to the semifinals of the 2011 SoCon Women's Tennis Championship on Thursday at the Champions Club.
The Cougars (19-7) won their 12th match in a row and will face fourth-seeded Samford (18-4) tomorrow at 10 a.m. (ET). They have now reached the semifinals 11-straight years since 2001, while the Bulldogs defeated fifth-seeded and host Chattanooga by a count of 4-2 to advance to the semis.
CofC claimed the doubles point quite handily as sophomore Christin Newman (Greensboro, N.C.) and freshman Jamie Harrell (Charleston, S.C.) won a love pro-set to ASU's Amanda Cash and Jessica Thaggard at the No. 3 line and senior Kinsey Casey (Alpharetta, Ga.) and junior Katie Lee (Brisbane, Australia) allowed only two games versus Jennifer Ansari and Gisela Fernandez, 8-2, at No. 2.
In singles play, Katie Lee defeated Amanda Cash with two love sets at No. 5 to give the Cougars a 2-0 lead in the dual match. Senior Emma Hayman (Wanganui, New Zealand) soon followed with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Jennifer Ansari at No. 2 and Kinsey Casey clinched the deciding point with a 6-2, 6-3 decision over Blakely Bean at No. 4.
"It was a nice start to the tournament for us," said CofC Director of Tennis Angelo Anastopoulo, even despite a one-hour rain delay of the match. "We benefited from Appalachian State having a long match yesterday against Wofford in the opening round. Katie Lee played another fabulous match in singles and put us on the board fast. Emma Hayman wasn't too far behind and Kinsey Casey clinched it for us. We were in good shape in all of our matches and felt good about the way we played today."
Live scoring will be available for all matches via the "championships" link at www.SoConSports.com or by CLICKING HERE for a direct link to CofC's semifinal match against Samford. The first team to four points will advance to the championship match on Saturday, April 23, versus the winner of second-seeded UNC Greensboro and third-seeded Furman.
"Every match we've played against Samford has been close," Anastopoulo said. "We will review some of our notes from previous matches and hope for the best. All you can do is try your hardest, but we should be well prepared."
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 4, APPALACHIAN STATE 0
2011 SoCon Women's Tennis Championship Quarterfinals
April 20-23, 2011
The Champions Club
at Chattanooga, Tenn.
SINGLES
No. 1 - Christin Newman (CofC) vs. Ellie Linsell (ASU), 6-2, 4-2 (unfinished).
No. 2 - Emma Hayman (CofC) def. Jennifer Ansari (ASU), 6-2, 6-3.
No. 3 - Caroline Newman (CofC) vs. Jessica Thaggard (ASU), 6-2, 2-2 (unfinished).
No. 4 - Kinsey Casey (CofC) def. Blakely Bean (ASU), 6-2, 6-3.
No. 5 - Katie Lee (CofC) def. Amanda Cash (ASU), 6-0, 6-0.
No. 6 - Kelly Kambourelis (CofC) vs. Kim-Lea Dinh (ASU), 6-0, 1-1 (unfinished).
DOUBLES
No. 1 - Hayman-Irene Viana (CofC) vs. Bean-Linsell (ASU), 7-2 (unfinished).
No. 2 - Casey-Lee (CofC) def. Ansari-Gisela Fernandez (ASU), 8-2.
No. 3 - Christin Newman-Jamie Harrell (CofC) def. Cash-Thaggard (ASU), 8-0.
ORDER OF FINISH
Doubles: 3, 2*
Singles: 5, 2, 4*
