WILMINGTON, N.C. - App State women's tennis claimed a 5-2 victory over UNCW on Saturday afternoon at UNCW Courts.
App State won its third straight match, capturing their first road victory to improve to 3-2 on the young season. UNCW is now 2-3 on the campaign after two straight losses.
The match was much more than the final score had indicated with five of the six singles matches going to a third set. Appalachian showcased the ability to bounce back, as in three of its singles wins, the Mountaineers fell in the opening frame.
App State is 6-1 in its last seven doubles matches after tallying the doubles point to take a a 1-0 lead going into singles.
Selina Atay and
Kate Earnhardt improved to 2-0 in as many contests after downing Rachel Marthinsen/Lauren Robbins in a convincing 6-0 triumph. Clinching the doubles point was the top tandem of
María José Zacarias/
Cassie McLay, who won a second consecutive match after defeating Anna Daniels/Celeste Matute in a tight 6-4 victory.
Sasha Pisareva stayed undefeated in singles when she dealt Marthinsen a 6-2, 6-3 defeat, moving to 5-0 on the season and giving the Black and Gold a 2-0 edge.
On courts No. 5 and 6 respectively, Zacarias and Atay stepped up when it counted. Zacarias fell in her first set (4-6), but stormed back in the next two sets to defeat Daniels, 6-0, 6-0, for her third straight singles triumph.
Clinching the match was Atay, who also needed to come back from a one-set loss. She fell to Robbins in the first frame, 5-7, and then won the next two sets, 6-3, 6-4. The freshman is now 2-0 in both singles and doubles this season.
Poggi fell in three sets after claiming the first , while McLay continued her solid day when she won in a come-from-behind three-set win over Brinley Bell. After suffering the 7-5 setback in the first, the freshman won the next two 6-1, 6-4, for her second win of the season.
Earnhardt put forth a valiant effort despite a three-set loss in which the last two frames went to a tiebreaker against Matute, 4-6, 7-6, 1-0 (10-5).
Picking up singles and doubles wins on the day were Atay, McLay and Zacarias. Appalachian is 14-4 over its last three matches in singles.
The Mountaineers will look for a fourth straight win on Wednesday in a home affair against ECU at 2 p.m.
