Women's Tennis Earns Second Straight Conference Victory at Davidson
3/16/2013 8:35:10 PM | Women's Tennis
DAVIDSON, N.C. -- The Georgia Southern Women's Tennis team picked up its second consecutive conference win in a 6-1 victory over foe Davidson on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles clinched the doubles point with wins on court one and three before taking five out of the six singles matches.
"We came ready to play today. The team was fired up to get to compete and they started strong in doubles and never let up. Our upperclassmen did a great job leading the team and keeping the momentum," said Coach Amy Bonner.
Caitlin Kitchen made her first appearance again after an injury had kept her out for most of the season. The junior started off by taking the first doubles win of the day. Together with teammate Jordana Klein, Kitchen handled the Davidson duo of Catherine Wood and Frizzi Bschorer with ease for a 8-1 win on court three.
Adding the decisive doubles win were freshman Mary Phillips Smith and junior Paola Garrido on court one, defeating Brites Moniz-Soares and Elaina Cummer 8-2.
Kitchen followed up her strong doubles performance with a match clinching performance at the number six singles position in her first singles match and victory of the year, beating Frizzi Bschorer 6-2, 7-6.
"I'm proud of Caitlin for having a great first day back," Bonner said.
Before Kitchen could clinch the match, several Eagles had shined in their singles position. Senior Natalie Maffett added her team leading seventh win of the season in a 6-2, 6-2 match against Catherine Wood, earning the first singles win of the day. The veteran has now more than doubled her total singles wins from the 2012 season.
Garrido finished shortly after Maffett, adding her fifth singles win at the number one position of the year. The Vigo, Spain native finished her match against Brites Moniz-Soares 6-1, 6-2.
Also providing points for the Eagles were Klein and Stephanie Woods. Klein added a solid 6-1, 6-4 against Elaina Cummer on court two, earning her sixth overall singles victory of the year. In a tough battle on court three, Woods showed character in a comeback win over Stephani Synn. The freshman saw herself being down 7-4 in the third set tie-breaker but managed to come back for an overall 2-6, 6-2, 1-0 (11-9) victory, the final of the day.
The Eagles improve to 5-6 on the year, standing 2-2 in SoCon competition.
Davidson drops to 7-3 on the year, including an 0-1 SoCon mark. The Wildcats beat No. 72 East Carolina only two days before taking on the Eagles.
The Eagles return action on Sunday with another tough road match-up at Appalachian State at 10 a.m. in Boone, N.C.
"We are looking forward to another day of conference competition tomorrow and will use this positive experience to take up into tomorrow's match," said Bonner.
Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics and twitter.com/GSAthletics, and its new "Eagles GATA" mobile app for Android and iOS.
Singles competition
1. Paola Garrido (GSU) def. Brites Moniz-Soares (DAV) 6-1, 6-2
2. Jordana Klein (GSU) def. Elaina Cummer (DAV) 6-1, 6-4
3. Stephanie Woods (GSU) def. Stephani Synn (DAV) 2-6, 6-2, 11-9
4. Nisha Crouser (DAV) def. M. Phillips Smith (GSU) 6-3, 6-0
5. Natalie Maffett (GSU) def. Catherine Wood (DAV) 6-2, 6-2
6. Caitlin Kitchen (GSU) def. Frizzi Bschorer (DAV) 6-2, 7-6
Doubles competition
1. Paola Garrido/M. Phillips Smith (GSU) def. Brites Moniz-Soares/Elaina Cummer (DAV) 8-2
2. Stephani Synn/Nisha Crouser (DAV) def. Natalie Maffett/Stephanie Woods (GSU) 8-6
3. Jordana Klein/Caitlin Kitchen (GSU) def. Catherine Wood/Frizzi Bschorer (DAV) 8-1
