Women's Tennis Sweeps Past College of Charleston

BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University women's tennis (6-4) showcased an impressive 7-0 victory over College of Charleston (7-3) on Sunday afternoon at Deer Valley Racquet Club.

The Mountaineers have made tremendous strides this season, and Saturday's performance continued the culture change head coach Blake Mosley has instilled in the program. App defeated CofC for the first time since 2000 while it's the first three-match win streak since the 2015 campaign. Appalachian's 6-4 start is the best 10-match opening since the 2015 slate when the Apps also started 6-4. 

"I'm very proud of how we played today," Mosley said following the win. "We had a great week of practice and the hard work showed today in the results."

Appalachian started strong and finished even stronger capturing the doubles point before snagging all six singles matches for the first shutout of the season over a College of Charleston team that was 6-1 over its last seven matches and boasted a 6-1 mark on the road. 

Melissa Machado and Teodora Sevo won their fourth straight match and improved to 8-2 with a convincing 6-0 triumph as the No. 3 duo over Laura Arciniegas/Turner Yates. With App needing one more doubles win, Heidi Swope and María José Zacarias pushed past Christi Woodson and Anastasia Palaska, 6-1, for their sixth win in a row and a 6-2 start in eight matches as a tandem. App is now 17-8 (.680) in doubles play including a combined record of 14-4 between Swope/Zacarias and Machado/Sevo.

The momentum didn't stop in doubles play as the six Mountaineers finished in order with wins. Zacarias started off with a 6-1, 6-2, win over Helena Nyikos as the No. 1 in the lineup. Sevo was next in line to finish as she dealt Woodson a 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 defeat at the No. 2 spot in the book before.

Clinching the match for App was Taylor Bygrave, who earned a three-set triumph over Rachel McNeely. Bygrave captured the first frame in a 7-6 (8-6) tiebreak before McNeely tied up the match, 3-6, in the second stanza. Bygrave fought through in the third set to tally a 6-4 victory and the contest. 

Swope downed Anastasia Palaska in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, for her second singles win of the season. Rebecca Morse continued the stellar day for the Apps with a 7-5, 6-2  victory over Turner Yates. Finishing the sweep was Machado, who defeated Arciniegas in a three-set tiebreak. Machado fought back from a one-set deficit, 4-6, to claim the second stanza, 6-2, before winning the 10-point tiebreak by two points, 10-8. 

Zacarias has won four matches in a row and boast a 6-3 record, while Bygrave is also 6-3 with a 3-0 mark in her last three contests. Sevo is 6-3 as well with three straight wins, while Morse is 4-2 and has won her previous three affairs since starting the season 1-2. Machado is 5-3 with back-to-back victories. 

The streaking Mountaineers boast five athletes with multiple wins in a row in singles action including four players with three straight wins. Appalachian is 29-26 (.527) on the year in singles action highlighted with a 16-2 stretch during the three consecutive victories. 

App State will look for its fourth win in a row on Friday, March 2 against Radford at 2 p.m.