April 12, 2006

Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina entered its final regular season match Thursday afternoon with a chance to end on a positive note and advance its seeding in the upcoming Southern Conference women's tennis championship. However, the Chattanooga Lady Mocs found their groove, blanking the home standing Catamounts, 7-0, concluding the first season at the new Catamount Athletic Complex.

Western drops to 3-17 overall on the year, with one victory on the home courts against mountain-rival UNC Asheville, and winless in nine conference matches. UTC improves to 10-13, 2-7 in league action.

The Lady Mocs took the early advantage, 1-0, by winning the doubles point. With Western conceding number three, Chattanooga won doubles competition after the duo of junior Anastasia Zhukova and sophomore Lindsey Ballard defeated WCU's sophomore tandem, Trish Hanson and Mariona Trilla Jane, 8-2, despite the Catamount squad leading 2-1 in the match.

At number two, Western sophomore Susanna Sjokvist and freshman Holly Stocks made a great showing before falling, 8-5, to UTC's Bonnie Adams and Maureen Parris. The Catamounts trailed three games to two, but won back-to-back frames to pull ahead, 4-3, for their first lead of the match. Adams/Parris rallied, however, to win the next two to pull head, 5-4. WCU had a chance to even things up after jumping out on top 40-love behind the service of Stocks, but errors late in the game gave the win, and 6-4 lead, to UTC. The Lady Mocs would take two of the final three games to win the match.

Starting singles competition in a 2-0 deficit after conceding number six singles coupled with the doubles point, Western dropped two matches at numbers four and five, which sealed the match for the Lady Mocs. Stocks was defeated in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0, at number four by freshman Talita Bragato, and Abbott fell 6-1, 6-0 to classmate Beata Knizat at number five.

Rounding out singles competition, Hanson fell at number one by identical scores of 6-1 to Zhukova, while at number two, Sjokvist fell 6-1 and 6-3. The final match to finish on the afternoon was the most closely contested between Trilla Jane and Adams. After dropping the first set, 6-4, Trilla Jane led late in the second frame, 6-5, before Adams managed to knot things at six and force the tie-breaker, with Adams winning overall, 7-6 (5).

Western now sets its sights on the SoCon Championships, April 21-23 in Charleston, S.C. The Catamounts will enter the tournament as the tenth-seed, with first round opponents and final seedings announced later this week at www.SoConSports.com.

Chattanooga 7, Western Carolina 0
Cullowhee, N.C. - Wednesday, April 12

Doubles
1. Zhukova/Ballard (UTC) def. Hanson/Trilla Jane (WCU) 8-2
2. Adams/Parris (UTC) def. Sjokvist/Stocks (WCU) 8-5
3. Bragato/Johnson (UTC) won by default

Singles
1. Anastasha Zhukova (UTC) def. Trish Hanson (WCU) 6-1, 6-1
2. Lindsey Ballard (UTC) def. Susanna Sjokvist (WCU) 6-1, 6-3
3. Bonnie Adams (UTC) def. Mariona Trilla Jane (WCU) 6-4, 7-6 (5)
4. Talita Bragato (UTC) def. Holly Stocks (WCU) 6-0, 6-0
5. Beata Knizat (UTC) def. Carley Abbott (WCU) 6-1, 6-0
6. Maureen Parris (UTC) won by default

Order of Finish:
Doubles - 1, 2 (did not contest 3)
Singles - 4, 5, 2, 1, 3 (did not contest 6)