Paladins Thwart Eagles in SoCon Match-Up
3/29/2009 4:02:00 AM | Women's Tennis
GREENVILLE, S.C. ? The Furman Paladins snapped a five-match win streak Georgia Southern held going into Sunday's contest, taking a 6-1 decision over the Eagles at the Mickel Tennis Center. The Southern Conference win pushed the Paladins to 9-7 overall this season and 4-0 in conference play, while Georgia Southern fell to 10-5, 4-2 on the season.
Furman took all three doubles matches to jump out with the early team lead. Furman walked away with a quick decision at the one seed, but the Eagles fought hard from No. 2 and No. 3. Christine Caforio and Melanie Rolle battled against Jennifer Betts and Lauren Tomory pushing their match to a one break decision, 8-6, while Shea Huxtable and Jessica Fuller fell by the same margin at the three seed to Jessica Preeg and Susan Bitetti.
Rolle shined for Georgia Southern, capturing the lone singles point for the Eagles. Rolle pushed her win streak to nine matches and her conference mark to 6-0 in the afternoon match. The sophomore Eagle downed Bitetti from the four position in straight 6-3 sets to record the conference victory.
Kristi Kegerreis faced off against the No. 12 singles player in the country at the one seed, Laura Gioia. The Paladin kept her conference slate clean with a 6-1, 6-0 victory at the top position. No. 85 Monica Arguello battled back from a set down to Ali Beavers at the two position to remain undefeated in SoCon singles action. Beavers took the first set 7-5, but dropped the next two, 6-0, 6-2.
Furman rounded out play with singles wins from the three, five and six seeds respectively, to push their conference win streak to 92 consecutive matches.
“I'm very proud of the team to make Furman work for their victory today,” said head coach Amy Bonner. “It was a tough loss to a good team, but we will use this experience to prepare for tomorrow's match.”
Georgia Southern returns to action on Monday to face Wofford. The match was originally scheduled for Saturday, but was postponed to Monday due to inclement weather. First serve is slated for 10 a.m.
Furman 6, Georgia Southern 1
Doubles:
1. Laura Gioia/Monica Arguello (FUR) d. Kristi Kegerreis/Ali Beavers (GSU) 8-1
2. Jennifer Betts/Lauren Tomory (FUR) d. Christine Caforio/Melanie Rolle (GSU) 8-6
3. Jessica Preeg/Susan Bitetti (FUR) d. Shea Huxtable/Jessica Fuller (GSU) 8-6
Singles:
1. #12 Laura Gioia (FUR) d. Kristi Kegerreis (GSU) 6-1,6-0
2. #85 Monica Arguello (FUR) d. Ali Beavers (GSU) 5-7, 6-0, 6-2
3. Jessica Preeg (FUR) d. Molly Maddox (GSU) 7-5, 6-4
4. Melanie Rolle (GSU) d. Susan Bitetti (FUR) 6-3, 6-3
5. Lauren Tomory (FUR) d. Jessica Fuller (GSU) 6-0, 7-5
6. Jennifer Betts (FUR) d. Shea Huxtable (GSU) 6-4, 6-3
