CHARLESTON, S.C.  – Eva Nyikos clinched for the first time as a Cougar, Christi Woodson and Anastasia Palaska pairing up in doubles action to defeat a top-50 ITA/Oracles ranked duo, as the College of Charleston women's tennis team took down Tulane, 4-2, at Patriots Point on Monday afternoon.

Woodson and Palaska clinched the doubles point on court one, defeating #41 ranked pair of Ivone Alvero and Elena Muller of the Green Wave, 6-3. The clinch came after senior duo Sarah Zschunke and Turner Yates made it back-to-back, 6-0, doubles wins on court three, defeating Christina Sista and Adelaide Lavery of Tulane.

With Charleston leading 1-0 heading into singles play, Woodson continued her strong run of form with a swift 6-2, 6-2, victory over Muller on court one. The senior from Melbourne, Fla., making it seven straight singles wins on court one, 15-6 on the season, with an 8-1 record over the Cougars last 10 matches.

Tulane quickly leveled the match at 2-2 with straight sets wins over Palaska and Catalina Medici on courts three and six, Lily LaBiche winning her ninth straight singles match to put Charleston back on top. The freshman from New Orleans, La., facing her hometown school, defeated Laura Fabrizi 6-4, 6-3, on court four to improve to 13-9 on the season, 9-1 through the last 10 matches and set up a clinch for Nyikos on court two.

Nyikos took the opening set 6-4, leading in the second 5-4 before Daniela la Fuente leveled up at 6-6 to force a tie-breaker. The sophomore dominating the decider 7-2 to clinch for the first time as a Cougar in a 6-4, 7-6, win with Yates going unfinished on court five.

The College improves to 2-1 all-time against Tulane, picking up a 12^th home victory of the season to move to 14-9 on the year heading into Senior Day weekend. Charleston welcomes Charlotte to Patriots Point on Saturday with the senior class consisting of Woodson, Zschunke, Yates and Laura Arciniegas playing for the final time in a 10 a.m. first serve.

Quotable – Head Coach Angelo Anastopoulo
"After 1,003 miles in two and a half days, to come back after such a long trip and have a performance like we had today, Coach Robb, Coach Silcox and myself, we couldn't be more proud of the girls… Eva [Nyikos] whose had a couple of opportunities in the last couple of matches to close it out, to be the clincher today, and play at a high level in that tie-breaker is a real testament to her willpower and belief in herself… We're gonna need that type of performance in the upcoming conference tournament… It seems like we're getting a little bit better each match and that's what we're hoping to do, be right at our best heading into the conference tournament."
 
Results
Doubles
Woodson/Palaska (CofC) def. #41 Alvaro/Muller (TLN), 6-3
La Fuente/Fabrizi (TLN) def. Errard/LaBiche (CofC), 3-6
Zschunke/Yates (CofC) def. Sisti/Lavery (TLN), 6-0
Finish: 3, 2, 1
 
Singles
Woodson (CofC) def. Muller (TLN), 6-2, 6-2
Nyikos (CofC) def. La Fuente (TLN), 6-4, 7-6 (7-2)
Alvaro (CofC) def. Palaska (CofC), 6-3, 6-3
LaBiche (CofC) def. Fabrizi (TLN), 6-4, 6-3
Yates (CofC) vs. Sisti (TLN), 4-6, 3-4, Unfinished
Lavery (TLN) def. Medici (CofC), 6-3, 6-4
Finish: 1, 3, 6, 4, 2