CHARLESTON, S.C.  – A three-and-a-half-hour battle in a renewal of a former conference rivalry went the way of the College of Charleston women's tennis team, taking down Davidson 5-2 on Wednesday afternoon at Patriots Point.

The Cougars led from the first serve, the Wildcats battling back in singles play to push The College all the way before senior Turner Yates clinched the 5-2 victory in three sets on court five, Anastasia Palaska putting an emphasis on the win on court three for Charleston.
 
The Cougars opened the action with a clean sweep in doubles play. Christi Woodson and Palaska teaming up in flight one for a straightforward 6-2 win, Clara Errard and Lily LaBiche clinching the doubles point with a 6-3 victory on court two. Senior pair Sarah Zschunke and Yates also winning 6-3 on court three to put the home team up 1-0 early.

Sophomore Eva Nyikos raced out to a dominating 6-2, 6-1, win on court two to open singles play and give Charleston a 2-0 lead, also moving to 2-0 in the number two spot on the season. The Wildcats responding by getting on the board with a straight sets victory on court number one.

Clara Errard picked up her second victory of the season on court six, going the distance in the first set 7-5, bouncing back with a 6-1 win in the second to give Charleston a 3-1 lead.

LaBiche went to three sets on court four, Samantha Armas of the Wildcats coming back from a first set loss to win in three, both Yates and Palaska going to third sets as Davidson looked for the come-from-behind victory.

But it was the Cougars who took the win. Yates battling through an injury in the final set on court five for a 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, victory to clinch the win for The College. The senior winning her seventh match of the season and sixth in a row for the Charleston.

Palaska was also pushed to the wire on court three by Davidson's Alexandra Abele. Palaska taking the opening set 6-2 before Abele levelled up with a 6-7 win in the second. Charleston's junior battled to take the third 7-5 and get the win to give Charleston a 5-2 victory over their former conference rival.

The Cougars now look to a weekend of tennis to open a five day, six-game, stretch beginning with Coastal Carolina on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Patriots Point.
 
Notables
• Turner Yates won her sixth match in a row and seventh of the season.
• Eva Nyikos moves to 2-0 in flight two action and 2-0 on the season.
• Charleston moves to 14-1 all-time at Patriots Point against Davidson, 29-4 overall dating back to 1992.
• The Cougars move to 3-2 on the year at Patriots Point.
 
Quotable – Head Coach Angelo Anastopoulo
 "It was great [to get the win]… Coach Robb, Coach Silcox and I, for a second there we looked like genius', like we were gonna run away with it but Davidson fought to get back into it… In the end we had just enough and a real credit to them for the fight they had, pushing us all the way to the limit… Three matches in a third set, to win two out of those three, we'll take it… A big shout-out to Turner Yates who was struggling with tightness in her back that whole third set, somehow found a way to win doing what she does… We definitely made some great progress today, it's not perfect yet but we're moving in the right direction… As a coach that's all we can ask for and hopefully we continue to get better in our next match on Saturday against a talented Coastal Carolina team."

Results
Doubles
Woodson/Palaska (CofC) def. Scholvinck/Truluck (DC), 6-2
Errard/LaBiche (CofC) def. Armas/Abele (DC), 6-3
Zschunke/Yates (CofC) def. Hahn/Gladstone (DC), 6-3
 
Singles
Scholvinck (DC) def. Woodson (CofC), 6-4, 6-4
Nyikos (CofC) def. Centenari (DC), 6-2, 6-1
Palaska (CofC) def. Abele (DC), 6-2, 6-7, 7-5
Armas (DC) def. LaBiche (CofC), 2-6, 7-5, 6-2
Yates (CofC) def. Truluck (DC), 6-2, 6-7, 6-3
Errard (CofC) def. Gladstone (DC), 7-5, 6-1