Women's Tennis Posts Second-Straight SoCon Shutout
3/14/2011 12:01:00 AM | Women's Tennis
BOONE, N.C. - The Georgia Southern Women's Tennis team posted its second-straight shutout and won its second-straight Southern Conference match with a 7-0 win at Appalachian State. Sophomore Natalie Maffett (Rome, Ga.) went 4-0 on the weekend in singles and doubles play, and clinched the Eagles' team win at number-four singles on both days. The Eagles improved to 6-5 on the season with a 2-2 mark in the SoCon.
Freshmen Paola Garrido (Vigo, Spain) and Caitlin Kitchen (Kennesaw, Ga.) won the doubles point for Georgia Southern with an 8-5 victory over the Mountaineers' number-one doubles pair of Ellie Linsell and Jessica Thaggard. Senior Melanie Rolle (Gainesville, Fla.) and Maffett topped ASU's Jennifer Ansari and Kim-Lea Dinh 8-1 for the Eagles' first win in doubles play Sunday.
The Eagles won all singles in straight sets with junior Alessandra Dzuba (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) starting off the afternoon with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Appalachian State's Amanda Cash. Rolle topped Blakely Bean at number-three singles with a 6-4, 6-2 win for Georgia Southern's third point. Maffett's 6-1, 6-3 defeat of Thaggard at the number-four seed secured the win for the Eagles.
Seniors Ashley Hungerford (Clearwater, Fla.) and Ali Beavers (Kingsport, Tenn.) racked up their fourth-straight singles wins. Mountaineer Gisela Fernandez lost to Hungerford 6-3, 6-3 in the number-five slot and Beavers topped Ansari 7-5, 6-2 at number-two singles. The Eagles' number-one singles player Garrido closed the afternoon with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Linsell.
Georgia Southern plays next in Hilton Head, S.C., in the Spring Break Tennis Fest, where it will meet Southern Illinois Carbondale on a neutral site on Friday, March 18th. The match is scheduled to begin at 12 p.m., a change from the 11 a.m. time released previously. The Eagles return to Statesboro to open a six-match homestand on Saturday, March 19th, against Florida A&M.
Fans can follow Eagle Women's Tennis at GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com/wtennis and receive short updates at facebook.com/GSAthletics or twitter.com/GSAthletics. Scores of matches are posted at twitter.com/GSScores.
Georgia Southern 7, Appalachian State 0
March 13, 2011 at Boone, N.C. (ASU Tennis Courts)
Singles competition
1. Paola Garrido (GSU) def. Ellie Linsell (ASU) 7-5, 6-1
2. Ali Beavers (GSU) def. Jennifer Ansari (ASU) 7-5, 6-2
3. Melanie Rolle (GSU) def. Blakely Bean (ASU) 6-4, 6-2
4. Natalie Maffett (GSU) def. Jessica Thaggard (ASU) 6-1, 6-3
5. Ashley Hungerford (GSU) def. Gisela Fernandez (ASU) 6-3, 6-3
6. Alessandra Dzuba (GSU) def. Amanda Cash (ASU) 6-2, 6-0
Order of Finish: 6,3,4,5,2,1
Doubles competition
1. Paola Garrido/Caitlin Kitchen (GSU) def. Ellie Linsell/Jessica Thaggard (ASU) 8-5
2. Blakely Bean/Gisela Fernandez (ASU) def. Ali Beavers/Ashley Hungerford (GSU) 8-2
3. Melanie Rolle/Natalie Maffett (GSU) def. Jennifer Ansari/Kim-Lea Dinh (ASU) 8-1
Order of Finish: 2,3,1
