Women?s Tennis Advances to Quarterfinals of SoCon Championship
4/20/2011 11:46:00 PM | Women's Tennis
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Georgia Southern (10-10, 3-7 SoCon) defeated Western Carolina (2-16, 1-10 SoCon) 4-0 Wednesday afternoon, April 20th, to advance to the Quarterfinals of the Southern Conference Championships. The Eagles face UNC Greensboro Thursday, April 21st, at 10:30 a.m. at the Champions Club in Chattanooga.
"I'm proud of the team for the way they competed today," said Head Coach Amy Bonner. "It's nice to have a match under our belt before we face Greensboro tomorrow. We played a tough match against UNC Greensboro during the regular season and we're hoping to compete hard tomorrow and play with intensity."
The win marks the first for the Eagles at the SoCon Championships since defeating Western Carolina, 4-0, in the first round in 2008. The victory also marks the second win in 10 days over the Catamounts as Georgia Southern closed out its regular season with a 6-1 win over WCU on April 10th. The Eagles are now 24-0 all time against Western Carolina dating back to 1992.
Georgia Southern opened up doubles play with the number-three seed of Melanie Rolle (Gainesville, Fla.) and Natalie Maffett (Rome, Ga.) winning by default. At No. 1, Paola Garrido (Vigo, Spain) and Caitlin Kitchen (Kennesaw, Ga.) topped Western Carolina's Carolina Lainez and Ainhoa Iglesias Diaz 8-4 to clinch the doubles point for GSU.
Momentum carried into singles action as the Eagles opened up the first three matches with victories to clinch the match. Ashley Hungerford (Clearwater, Fla.) blanked her opponent 6-0, 6-0 at No. 5 singles, while Alessandra Dzuba (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) won by default on court six. Garrido won in straight sets 6-1, 6-1 at the top of the lineup to clinch the win for Georgia Southern.
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.
Live scoring of the match is available at soconsports.com
Georgia Southern 4, Western Carolina 0
April 20, 2011 at Chattanooga, Tenn.
Champions Club
Singles
1. Paola Garrido (GSU) def. Izabella Glinska (WCU) 6-1, 6-1
2. Ali Beavers (GSU) vs. Carolina Lainez (WCU) 6-2, 5-2, unfinished
3. Melanie Rolle (GSU) vs. Ainhoa Iglesias Díaz (WCU) 7-5, unfinished
4. Natalie Maffett (GSU) vs. Karen Jiménez (WCU) 4-6, 1-1, unfinished
5. Ashley Hungerford (GSU) def. Katie Barry (WCU) 6-0, 6-0
6. Alessandra Dzuba (GSU) def. No player (WCU), by walkover
Order of finish: 6,5,1
Doubles
1. Caitlin Kitchen/Paola Garrido (GSU) def. Carolina Lainez/Ainhoa Iglesias Díaz (WCU) 8-4
2. Ali Beavers/Ashley Hungerford (GSU) vs. Izabella Glinska/Karen Jiménez (WCU) 5-4, unfinished
3. Melanie Rolle/Natalie Maffett (GSU) def. No player/No player (WCU), by walkover
Order of finish: 1,3,2
