April 11, 2014

Results

Burlington, N.C. - Erin Maguire delivered the clinching point in the last match of the day as Western Carolina picked up a 4-3 win over Longwood Friday afternoon at the Burlington Tennis Center in a nonconference match.

"This season we have played a lot of close matches, and I've felt we have been on the brink of putting it all together and pulling out a close match for a long time," head coach Michaela Kissell-Eddins said. "I'm proud of the work the girls have been putting in and think this is great momentum leading up to a SoCon match Saturday and the SoCon Tournament next week."

With the match knotted up a three, Maguire, who had lost the first set, 6-3, rallied to take the second set 6-4 over Bethany Law. She carried the momentum into the third set tiebreaker and pulled out a 10-8 win lifting the Catamounts to the win.

WCU claimed the doubles point for only the second time this season as WCU picked up wins at No. 1 and No. 2. The Purple & Gold won at No. 1 when Stacia Kissell and Shannon Bettiol defeated Malin Allgurin and Sarah Moomau, 8-4. The Lancers struck back when Mason Thomas and Law defeated Sara Ruiz Pajares and Maguire, 8-4, at the No. 3 spot.

WCU won the point taking a 1-0 lead in the match when Megan McLinden and Nicole Nielly pulled out an 8-5 win at No. 2 over Paloma Alatorre and Anna Pelak.

Kissell gave the Catamounts a 2-0 lead with a straight set, 6-0, 6-2, win over Allgurin at the No. 1 singles match. Kissell claimed her 15th win of the season in 19 matches all at the No. 1 singles position. She entered the day leading the league in wins and in winning percentage at the top singles spot.

Longwood cut the deficit down to 2-1 when Moomau defeated McLinden, 6-2, 3-6, 10-4, at the No. 3 pairing and evened the match at two when Pelak took down Ruiz Pajares, 6-4, 4-6, 10-6, in the No. 4 singles spot.

The two teams traded points as the Catamounts claimed a point when Bettiol defeated Alatorre, 6-2, 7-5, in the No. 2 pairing, and the Lancers won the No. 5 match when Thomas defeated Nielly in a tightly contested match, 7-5, 5-7, 10-7, setting the table for Maguire's drama.

"This match could not have been any closer and it was great to see the girls dig deep in a high pressure situation," Kissell-Eddins added.

The win snaps an eight-game skid for the Catamounts.

WCU ends its regular season and its SoCon season at Elon Saturday at noon.