BRADENTON, Fla. - For the second straight fall, Appalachian State University women's tennis turned in a solid showing at the Dick Vitale Intercollegiate Clay Court Classic.
Hosted by the Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club, the tournament is in a unique setting as its the only college event in the nation played on a clay court.
Jeannez Daniel and
Kate Earnhardt participated in both singles and doubles in a field that featured Oklahoma State, TCU, Florida, Boston College, Virginia Tech, Central Florida, South Florida, UAB, Florida Gulf Coast and Liberty.
Earnhardt had a solid showing with a pair of victories in the main draw, advancing to the quarterfinals. The redshirt freshman defeated Amelie Boy of South Florida in three sets, 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 in the opening round.
In the next round, Earnhardt dealt Rita Pinto (Virginia Tech) a straight-set 6-2, 6-3, defeat to move on to the quarterfinals. Earnhardt would fall to Mercedes Aristegui of TCU, 0-6, 7-6 (4), 5-10, in a hard-fought battle, as Earnhardt came back from a one-set deficit to force the tiebreaker.
In doubles play, the tandem fell to the top-seeded pairing and the eventual doubles champion in Marina Guinart/Catherine Gulihur of Oklahoma State.
Earnhardt and Daniel bounced back with a doubles victory against Virginia Tech.
Daniel fell in her first singles match to Florida's Marlee Zein, 6-2, 6-4. However, Daniel regrouped to defeat Marlene Herrmann of UAB, 8-4, to advance to the quarters in the consolation bracket. She would suffer a 6-3, 6-4 setback to Natalia Serrano (UCF).
Over the weekend, the pair notched three singles wins and a doubles triumph.
