Senior Trio Shines in Final Home Match Victory

Wednesday, April 8

Patriots Point Tennis Center

2:00 PM

College of Charleston

Georgia Southern (Senior Day)

4/9/2015 1:09:00 AM | Women's Tennis

By: CofCSports.com

CHARLESTON, S.C. – College of Charleston women's tennis seniors Grace Baker, Jenny Falcone and Samantha Maddox made sure their last match at Patriots Point Tennis Center was a memorable one as they led the Cougars to a 5-2 win over Georgia Southern on Wednesday afternoon. Each senior got a win in either singles or doubles this afternoon while Falcone picked up wins in both competitions.

“They were physical, meaning long points, they fought hard and so it was a tough match,” CofC Head Coach Angelo Anastopoulo said of the Eagles (10-7, 2-3 Sun Belt) “We played very well to win that match and were a little bit lucky at the same time.”

Baker and junior Brooke McAmis paired up for paired up for the second time this year at the No. 3 spot, defeating their opponents Giula Riepe and Jordana Klein 8-2.

CAA Women's Tennis Doubles Team of the Week Falcone and junior Katherine Schofield pulled out an 8-6 victory over GSU's Mary Smith and Anne Kurzwell on court one to clinch the doubles point for the Cougars. The 80^th-ranked team in the nation, who recorded a 9-3 record at Patriots Point this season, are riding a four-match win streak heading into the weekend.

Falcone's energy from her doubles win carried over to singles where she swiftly defeated Smith 6-1, 6-0 at the No. 3 spot to boost CofC to 2-0. Rookie Sarah Jane Jones followed suit at the No. 5 position with a 6-2, 6-3 win over her own over Daria Vasekina for her sixth straight singles win.

“Jenny did a great job,” Anastopoulo said. “She just jumped on her opponent and got off the court and gave us a 2-0 lead. It really didn't take that long and it gave us some momentum.”

Up 3-0 on the Eagles, Charleston began to struggle as the matches wore on through the afternoon. With sets in two different matches going to tiebreakers and another two matches going into a third set, Georgia Southern appeared to be picking up steam. After more than 40 minutes passed since Jones won her match, Maddox, who had escaped the first set with a 7-5 win in the tiebreak, defeated top-seeded Klein 6-2 in the second set to cement the win for the Cougars.

“It was so fitting that Jenny got us our first point and then Sam[antha], the first one to commit [to CofC] out of the three seniors, got the clinching win for us really made it a special senior day,” Anastopoulo said.

Baker, who had dropped her first set, 6-4, to her opponent on court four, battled back in the second set to force a tiebreaker with Riepe. The Eagle was able to pull out a 7-3 victory in the tiebreak to put GSU on the board, 4-1.

Freshman Helena Nyikos stumbled in the second set after winning the first against her Norregaard at the No. 6 spot. Regaining her composure, the Austrian native dominated in the third set with a 6-1 win to earn her sixth singles victory of the year.

Schofield and Kurzwell were the last two players on the court, heading into a third set after Schofield won the first set 7-5 and Kurzwell took the second by the same margin. Schofield eventually retired, up 1-0 in the third, as a result of the heat.

College of Charleston (10-12, 2-1 CAA) will finish its regular season with a pair of road conference matches this weekend at Elon and James Madison before gearing up for the CAA Championships in Williamsburg, Va. on April 16-19.