College of Charleston
Rutgers
Cougars Come From Behind in Wild Match with Rutgers
3/7/2016 4:27:00 PM | Women's Tennis
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – The College of Charleston women's tennis team completed its sweep of the Big Apple this weekend, coming from behind to put away Rutgers (4-5) by a score of 4-3.
The Scarlet Knights came out firing, taking the early lead in doubles with a pair of wins in flight two and three, both by scores of 6-1. Though it resulted in defeat, freshman Diana Colen made her first doubles appearance of her collegiate career, teaming up with Helena Nyikos in the third flight.
Senior Brooke McAmis fired back in singles play to tie the match up 1-1 by way of her third flight victory over Ksenija Tihomirova (6-3, 7-5). Rutgers would immediately respond however in the second flight, as Chloe Lee pulled off a 6-4, 6-2 win over Katherine Schofield to put the score back in Rutgers' favor, 2-1.
From there, every remaining match afterword would require three sets to decide a winner in the hotly contested affair. The sixth flight was the first-such match to conclude. Sophomore Sarah Jane Jones dropped the opening set 6-1 against Lee Levy, but rallied back to win 6-3, 6-2 and tie the match 2-2.
The back-and-forth match once again tilted in Rutgers' favor in the fourth flight, where Mara Argyriou took set one 6-2, but fell 6-4, 6-1 in the following sets to surrender the point to Mariam Zein, as the Scarlet Knights sat on the cusp of victory at 3-2. Liza Fieldsend had other ideas, however. The junior had an epic clash with Gina Li in the first flight, prevailing narrowly 7-6 before falling 6-3 in the second set. Things looked dire in the third set when Fieldsend trailed 4-2, but she fought through her difficulties, and managed to win 7-6(6) in a tiebreak to tie the match at 3-3
From there, it all came down to the fifth flight, where Nyikos faces off against Lindsey Kayati. Rutgers took the first set 7-5, and as was the theme for the day, Nyikos responded with a 6-4 win in set two. As with her teammate Liza Fieldsend, the sophomore was on the brink down 5-3 in the third set, but roared back by winning 12 of the final 16 points to prevail 7-5 and deliver the deciding fourth point for The College.
At 7-3, the College is off to its best ten-match start to the season since 2009, when the Cougars finished 24-5 en route to a SoCon championship and NCAA Tournament berth.
The Cougars will at last return to the Lowcountry, where they will play their first home-matches of the season. CofC will begin its 14-match home-stand Tuesday at 5 p.m. against the visiting USC Upstate Spartans (0-10).
CofC 4, Rutgers 3
Singles Results
Liza Fieldsend (CofC) def. Gina Li (RU), 7-6, 3-6, 7-6 (6)
Chloe Lee (RU) def. Katherine Schofield (CofC), 6-4, 6-2
Brooke McAmis (CofC) def. Ksenija Tihomirova (RU), 6-3, 7-5
Mariam Zein (RU) def. Mara Argyriou (CofC), 2-6, 6-4, 6-1
Helena Nyikos (CofC) def. Lindsey Kayati (RU), 5-7, 6-4, 7-5
Sarah Jane Jones (CofC) def. Lee Levy (RU), 1-6, 6-3, 6-2
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 6, 4, 1, 5
Doubles Results
Katherine Schofield/ Mara Argyriou (CofC) vs. Gina Li/Mariam Zein (RU), DNF
Ksenija Tihomirova/Chloe Lee (RU) def. Liza Fieldsend/ Brooke McAmis (CofC), 6-1
Lindsey Kayati/Lee Levy (RU) def. Helena Nyikos/Diana Colen (CofC), 6-1
Order of Finish: 2, 3
Players Mentioned
