Women's Tennis Battles for Third-Straight Win
3/18/2011 10:47:00 PM | Women's Tennis
HILTON HEAD, S.C. - The Georgia Southern Women's Tennis (7-5) team topped Southern Illinois Carbondale (6-8) by a 5-2 score at the Evian Tennis Center at Hilton Head Island, S.C., in a Spring Break Tennis Fest match Friday, March 18th. The Eagles took a 1-0 lead by winning the doubles point and then battled in singles play to earn four more points. Senior Ali Beavers (Kingsport, Tenn.) clinched the match with her fifth-straight win, a 2-6, 7-6 (6), 10-6 victory over the Salukis' Anita Lee.
"Our team competed very well in this long, closely contest match, and I am proud of our determination in getting the win," said Eagle Head Women's Tennis Coach Amy Bonner. "This benefits our whole experience as we prepare to continue conference play. We battled it out all the way to the end and came out on top."
The No. 1 doubles team of Beavers and Paola Garrido (Vigo, Spain) won 8-3 over SIUC's Melanie Delsart and Jennifer Dien. The Salukis' Anatascia Simons and Korey Love came back with an 8-5 win at number-two doubles. Georgia Southern's number-three doubles tandem of Ashley Hungerford (Clearwater, Fla.) and Caitlin Kitchen (Kennesaw, Ga.) won by default.
The Eagles picked up their second point when Allison Beeler (Alpharetta, Ga.) won by default at the No. 6 slot. SIUC, however, didn't yield, and evened the score at 2-2 by winning in straight sets at No. 3 and No. 4 singles. Hungerford put Georgia Southern back in the lead with a 6-0, 7-6 (8) triumph over Simons at number-five singles.
After falling behind in the first set 2-6, Beavers won her second set 7-6 (6) and then recorded a 10-4 score in the final tiebreaker set for Georgia Southern's fourth point and team win. Garrido closed out the match with a 6-4, 6-7 (6), 10-4 win over Delsart at No. 1 singles. Both Beavers and Garrido played the 10-point tiebreaker to allow SIUC to prepare for the second match of its doubleheader.
Georgia Southern returns to Statesboro tomorrow, Saturday, March 19th, to play Florida A&M at 2:30 p.m. at the Hanner Tennis Complex. The match against the Rattlers is the final non-conference match of 2011. Elon visits at 2 p.m. Monday, March 21st, for a Southern Conference match.
The Lady Rattlers and Eagles have not met for the last three seasons and GSU leads the series 6-4. The two teams last met in 2007 when Georgia Southern took a 6-1 victory in Statesboro for the fourth-straight win in the series.
Saturday's match against FAMU is a USTA Campus Kids' Day event and has also been designated Junior Eagle Day. Georgia Southern mascot GUS will be in attendance for both the Men's and Women's Tennis contests at Hanner Tennis Complex and Subway is providing sandwiches to the first 50 fans at each match.
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 5, Southern Illinois 2
March 18, 2011 at Hilton Head Island, S.C. (Evian Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. Paola Garrido (GSU) def. Melanie Delsart (SIU) 6-4, 6-7 (6-10), 10-4
2. Ali Beavers (GSU) def. Anita Lee (SIU) 2-6, 7-6 (10-6), 10-6
3. Jennifer Dien (SIU) def. Melanie Rolle (GSU) 6-2, 6-4
4. Korey Love (SIU) def. Natalie Maffett (GSU) 6-2, 6-2
5. Ashley Hungerford (GSU) def. Anastacia Simons (SIU) 6-0, 7-6 (10-8)
6. Allison Beeler (GSU) def. No player (SIU), by default
Order of finish: 6,4,3,5,2,1
Doubles competition
1. Ali Beavers/Paola Garrido (GSU) def. Melanie Delsart/Jennifer Dien (SIU) 8-2
2. Anastacia Simons/Korey Love (SIU) def. Natalie Maffett/Melanie Rolle (GSU) 8-5
3. Ashley Hungerford/Caitlin Kitchen (GSU) def. No player/No player (SIU), by default
Order of finish: 3,1,2
