Friday, March 10
Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
1:00 PM
College of Charleston
3
vs
4
East Carolina
Photo by: CofCSports.com
Cougars Drop 4-3 Heartbreaker to East Carolina
3/10/2017 6:57:00 PM | Women's Tennis
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – The Cougars and Pirates were all locked up at 3-3 with one flight remaining to decide the match, but it was East Carolina (5-5) that escaped with victory as the College of Charleston women's tennis team (5-3) was defeated 4-3.
Doubles play got off to a rocky start for the Cougars. Down 1-0, they looked to flights two and three to pull off the comeback, and nearly got it as both duos submitted close matches. Yet ECU achieved victory on both courts within mere seconds of each other, as the College fell 6-4 on court two and 7-5 on court three.
Mara Argyriou struck first in singles play to get the Cougars knotted up at 1-1, defeating Annija Veinsteina 6-1, 6-2 in the third flight. ECU responded however, winning on court two (6-4, 6-4) and court six (7-5, 6-1) to put CofC on the brink.
Liza Fieldsend blew past Celia Ruiz 6-1 in the opening set of flight one, but Ruiz battled back to make a match of it. Fieldsend trailed for the latter portion of the set, but battled back to force the tiebreak and ultimately won the confrontation 7-6(7). Moments later, Anastasia Palaska hollered out in victory in the fifth flight, finishing off a 7-5, 6-2 win over Michelle Castro to tie the match.
That left Rachel McNeely and Sarah Sarjoo as the deciding point in the fourth flight, with all other matches wrapping up before the early moments of the third set. Sarjoo and McNeely split their opening sets 6-1 and 6-3, and finished in epic fashion. McNeely got out to the early advantage 1-0, Sarjoo responded with three straight sets to go up 3-1, and McNeely countered in turn to go back up 4-3. In the end though, Sarjoo prevailed 6-4 to win the match not only for herself, but for the entire ECU team.
"Rachel went out and did everything she could have, and brought all the enthusiasm and intensity that won her match against William & Mary," Director of Tennis Angelo Anastopoulo said. "In the end though, her opponent was just too tough and made some incredible plays. I was very proud of our overall effort in putting ourselves in a position to win at the end, but at the end of the day, East Carolina was just a little hungrier than we were."
The Cougars return to action Saturday at 3 p.m., when they host the No. 3 North Carolina Tar Heels (14-1). Prior to the match, UNC will face ECU at Patriots Point in a neutral site meeting at 10 a.m.
East Carolina 4, CofC 3
SINGLES
Liza Fieldsend (CofC) def. Celia Ruiz (ECU) ~ 6-1, 7-6(7)
Lisa Hofbauer (ECU) def. Christi Woodson (CofC) ~ 6-4, 6-4
Mara Argyriou (CofC) def. Annija Veinsteina (ECU) ~ 6-1, 6-2
Sarah Sarjoo (ECU) def. Rachel McNeely (CofC) ~ 6-1, 3-6, 6-4
Anastasia Palaska (CofC) def. Michelle Castro (ECU) ~ 7-5, 6-2
Nastja Rettich (ECU) def. Sarah Jane Jones (CofC) ~ 7-5, 6-1
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 6, 1, 5, 4*
DOUBLES
Ruiz/Hofbauer (ECU) def. Fieldsend/McNeely (CofC) ~ 6-0
Gomez/Rettich (ECU) def. Argyriou/Palaska (CofC) ~ 6-4
Castro/Veinsteina (ECU) def. Jones/Zschunke (CofC) ~ 7-5
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
Doubles play got off to a rocky start for the Cougars. Down 1-0, they looked to flights two and three to pull off the comeback, and nearly got it as both duos submitted close matches. Yet ECU achieved victory on both courts within mere seconds of each other, as the College fell 6-4 on court two and 7-5 on court three.
Mara Argyriou struck first in singles play to get the Cougars knotted up at 1-1, defeating Annija Veinsteina 6-1, 6-2 in the third flight. ECU responded however, winning on court two (6-4, 6-4) and court six (7-5, 6-1) to put CofC on the brink.
Liza Fieldsend blew past Celia Ruiz 6-1 in the opening set of flight one, but Ruiz battled back to make a match of it. Fieldsend trailed for the latter portion of the set, but battled back to force the tiebreak and ultimately won the confrontation 7-6(7). Moments later, Anastasia Palaska hollered out in victory in the fifth flight, finishing off a 7-5, 6-2 win over Michelle Castro to tie the match.
That left Rachel McNeely and Sarah Sarjoo as the deciding point in the fourth flight, with all other matches wrapping up before the early moments of the third set. Sarjoo and McNeely split their opening sets 6-1 and 6-3, and finished in epic fashion. McNeely got out to the early advantage 1-0, Sarjoo responded with three straight sets to go up 3-1, and McNeely countered in turn to go back up 4-3. In the end though, Sarjoo prevailed 6-4 to win the match not only for herself, but for the entire ECU team.
"Rachel went out and did everything she could have, and brought all the enthusiasm and intensity that won her match against William & Mary," Director of Tennis Angelo Anastopoulo said. "In the end though, her opponent was just too tough and made some incredible plays. I was very proud of our overall effort in putting ourselves in a position to win at the end, but at the end of the day, East Carolina was just a little hungrier than we were."
The Cougars return to action Saturday at 3 p.m., when they host the No. 3 North Carolina Tar Heels (14-1). Prior to the match, UNC will face ECU at Patriots Point in a neutral site meeting at 10 a.m.
East Carolina 4, CofC 3
SINGLES
Liza Fieldsend (CofC) def. Celia Ruiz (ECU) ~ 6-1, 7-6(7)
Lisa Hofbauer (ECU) def. Christi Woodson (CofC) ~ 6-4, 6-4
Mara Argyriou (CofC) def. Annija Veinsteina (ECU) ~ 6-1, 6-2
Sarah Sarjoo (ECU) def. Rachel McNeely (CofC) ~ 6-1, 3-6, 6-4
Anastasia Palaska (CofC) def. Michelle Castro (ECU) ~ 7-5, 6-2
Nastja Rettich (ECU) def. Sarah Jane Jones (CofC) ~ 7-5, 6-1
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 6, 1, 5, 4*
DOUBLES
Ruiz/Hofbauer (ECU) def. Fieldsend/McNeely (CofC) ~ 6-0
Gomez/Rettich (ECU) def. Argyriou/Palaska (CofC) ~ 6-4
Castro/Veinsteina (ECU) def. Jones/Zschunke (CofC) ~ 7-5
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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