BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University women's tennis (10-5) grinded its way to a 5-2 triumph over UNCG (4-8) on Tuesday afternoon at Deer Valley Racquet Club.
Women's tennis continues its resurgence, doubling its win total from last season while reaching 10 wins for the first time since the 2013 campaign.
App State showcased resiliency and grit after falling in doubles play heartbreakingly but would claim five of six singles contests for the win.
Heidi Swope and
María José Zacarias moved to 9-3 as a duo with a 6-0 shutout over Blaine Boaz and Alice Taylor.
App needed just one more doubles win for the point and a 1-0 edge going into singles. However, the Spartans needed two tiebreaking wins to take the doubles tally.
Melissa Machado and
Teodora Sevo fell to Sophia Adams and Brianna Gomez, 7-6 (7-1).
Sandra Anglesjö/
Emily Gaskins suffered a 7-6 (7-4) defeat to Corinne Blythe and Nancy Bridges, which gave UNCG the 1-0 lead.
The Black and Gold took the momentum quickly in singles play with Zacarias mustering a 6-1, 6-1 tally over Bridges to tie up the match. Sevo promptly got over her doubles setback to topple Taylor in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, giving Appalachian the 2-1 advantage.
Taylor Bygrave won her first set over Adams, 7-5, but the Spartans' No. 3 in the lineup captured the next two stanzas, 6-3, 6-2 to bring the match to a 2-2 tie.
From that point on, the Apps took care of business with Machado defeating Boaz with ease, 6-0, 6-1 to give the Mountaineers the upperhand, 3-2.
Swope, who had a marathon of a match, sealed the deal for App with the clinching win when she earned a hard-fought three-set victory over Blythe. The junior and Blythe split the first two frames before Swope dug in for the 6-4 third-frame triumph.
Appalachian didn't stop there, as
Rebecca Morse might have produced her most impressive victory of the season. The junior fought back from a 6-4 first-set loss to claim the next two sets in tiebreaking fashion over Gomez, who came into the match with an unblemished 11-0 mark. Morse won the second set, 7-6 (7-1) before cruising to the 10-3 win and gave Gomez her first loss of the season.
App State will have a tough stretch moving forward with five of the final six matches on the road including four against Sun Belt opponents. Appalachian will face Georgia State on Saturday at 2 p.m. before squaring off against Coastal Carolina on Sunday at 1 p.m. Both matches will take place in Conway, S.C. on the Chanticleers' campus.
Notes
- Five Mountaineers in Bygrave, Machado, Morse, Sevo, and Zacarias now have at least eight singles wins.
- App State is now 7-1 over its last eight matches (started 3-4).
- The Mountaineers are 4-1 at home.
- Appalachian is 51-34 (.600) in singles and 28-12 (.700) in doubles play.
