BOONE, N.C. – The College of Charleston women's tennis team (7-3) was defeated on the road on Sunday despite a spirited effort, falling to the Appalachian State Mountaineers (6-4) by a score of 7-0.
With the defeat, CofC's dominant 18-match winning streak against App State comes to an end. In the Cougars' NCAA Division I Era, they had only fallen to the Mountaineers once before, a 5-4 home defeat back in 2000.
Rachel McNeely and
Helena Nyikos were shaping up to have a solid match on court two of doubles play against Sandra Anglesjo and Emily Gaskins, and led the match 4-3. However, CofC was soundly beaten on the other two courts which surrendered the point and caused the match to end prematurely.
In singles play, Appalachian State blitzed out to two quick wins on courts one and four, and sealed the match when Rebecca Morse defeated
Turner Yates 7-5, 6-2. Elsewhere,
Christi Woodson forced a first set tiebreak before falling in two sets on court two.
The two matches on the day that extended to three sets occurred on courts two and six.
Rachel McNeely narrowly fell 7-6(6) in the first set, bounced back for a 6-3 win, but then succumbed 6-4 to Taylor Bygrave. In the sixth flight,
Laura Arciniegas won the only opening set of the day for the Cougars, fell in the second set, and went to a super tiebreak against Melissa Machado before falling 10-8.
"Coach Mosley, who was the first player I ever recruited here at the College way back when, has done a fabulous job rebuilding this Appalachian State program," Director of Tennis
Angelo Anastopoulo said. "He was a great player for CofC, but it looks like he's an even better coach. I'd also like to recognize Appalachian State's marketing department for their tremendous efforts to bring so many fans out to the match today. It was a very loud and enthusiastic indoor tennis match."
The Cougars will now return home to enjoy a four-match home-stand, which begins on Saturday against Savannah State.
App. State 7, CofC 0
SINGLES
Maria Jose Zacarias (APSU) def.
Helena Nyikos (CofC) ~ 6-1, 6-2
Teodora Sevo (APSU) def.
Christi Woodson (CofC) ~7-6(4), 6-1
Taylor Bygrave (APSU) def.
Rachel McNeely (CofC) ~ 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-4
Heidi Swope (APSU) def.
Anastasia Palaska (CofC) ~ 6-2, 6-3
Rebecca Morse (APSU) def.
Turner Yates (CofC) ~ 7-5, 6-2
Melissa Machado (APSU) def.
Laura Arciniegas (CofC) ~ 4-6, 6-2, 10-8
DOUBLES
Swope/Jose Zacarias (APSU) def. Palaska/Woodson (CofC) ~ 6-1
McNeely/Nyikos (CofC) vs. Anglesjo/Gaskins (APSU) ~ 4-3, DNF
Machado/Sevo (APSU) def. Arciniegas/Yates (CofC) ~ 6-0
