Eagles Suffer Tough Loss to Phoenix
3/22/2010 10:08:00 PM | Women's Tennis
STATESBORO, Ga. – Georgia Southern took the lead with the doubles point, but Elon battled back in singles play to take the match, 5-2, Monday afternoon (March 22) at the Hanner Tennis Complex. Freshman Allison Beeler proved victorious for the Eagles in singles competition, notching a straight set decision over Laura Graybill as GS fell to 8-6 overall this season and 3-2 in Southern Conference play. Elon remained perfect in league competition, improving to 4-0 and 13-3 overall.
Georgia Southern went ahead, 1-0, taking two of three doubles matches. Finishing in numerical order, Ali Beavers (Kingsport, Tenn.) and Natalie Maffett (Rome, Ga.) finished first at the top seed against Anna Milian and Elisa Simonetti. The Phoenix took the first decision, 8-1, but would drop the next two for the early deficit. Melanie Rolle (Gainesville, Fla.) and Ashley Hungerford (Clearwater, Fla.) paired at the two seed to conquer Paige Kensrue and Lauren Sessoms, 8-5, before the senior duo of Kristi Kegerreis (Fairfax, Va.) and Christine Caforio (Acworth, Ga.) clinched the point at No. 3. The Eagle tandem battled hard to defeat Grayhill and Briana Berne, 8-6, for the point.
Moving into singles action, Elon quickly took a 3-1 lead with three straight set decisions. Kensrue dropped only one game en route to a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Maffett at No. 2 to tie the match before Berne defeated Kegerreis, 7-6 (4), 6-0 at No. 4 for Elon's first lead. Junior Beavers challenged Milian at the top singles seed, but suffered a tough loss, 6-3, 7-5, to the Phoenix putting Elon ahead, 3-1.
Freshman Beeler (Alpharetta, Ga.) trimmed the score to 3-2 with a victory over Graybill at the six seed. Beeler took the first set with an 8-6 tiebreak score and crushed Graybill in the second set, 6-2, for the win. But Elon would clinch the match at No. 3 with a three-set victory.
Rolle rebounded from a 6-2 first set loss to dominate the second set, 6-0, forcing a third set. The junior took the advantage, but Simonetti evened the set at 4-all and again at 6-all to force a tiebreaker. It was a back-and-forth affair as Simonetti took the match with an 8-6 tiebreak win.
Elon closed out the match with another three-set win at the five seed with Sessoms defeating Jessica Fuller (Cartersville, Ga.), 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.
Georgia Southern closed out this six-match homestand and hits the road for a pair of matches this weekend at Davidson and Appalachian State. The Eagles take on the Wildcats, Saturday, March 27 at 10 a.m. before traveling to Boone, N.C. to challenge the Mountaineers on Sunday at noon.
Elon 5, Georgia Southern 2
Doubles:
1. Anna Milian/Elis Simonetti (Elon) d. Ali Beavers/Natalie Maffett (GSU) 8-1
2. Melanie Rolle/Ashley Hungerford (GSU) d. Paige Kensrue/Lauren Sessoms (Elon) 8-5
3. Kristi Kegerreis/Christine Caforio (GSU) d. Laura Graybill/Briana Berne (Elon) 8-6*
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
*Clinched the doubles point
Singles:
1. Anna Milian (Elon) d. Ali Beavers (GSU) 6-3, 7-5
2. Paige Kensrue (Elon) d. Natalie Maffett (GSU) 6-1, 6-0
3. Elisa Simonetti (Elon) d. Melanie Rolle (GSU) 6-2, 0-6, 7-6 (6)*
4. Briana Berne (Elon) d. Kristi Kegerreis (GSU) 7-6 (4), 6-0
5. Lauren Sessoms (Elon) d. Jessica Fuller (GSU) 6-3, 2-6, 6-2
6. Allison Beeler (GSU) d. Laura Graybill (Elon) 7-6 (6), 6-2
Order of finish: 2, 4, 1, 6, 3, 5
*Clinched the match
