Complete Results

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - The Western Carolina women's tennis team took on Southern Conference co-leader Samford University Sunday afternoon at the Catamount Athletic Complex. The Bulldogs swept the match to earn their sixth conference win of the season but WCU did not go down without a battle.

Samford picked up the doubles point with an 8-0 win at No. 2 and an 8-3 victory at No. 3. Senior Megan McLinden and junior Nicole Nielly battled the entire way at No. 1 as they won five games but fell 8-5.

The Bulldogs picked up their second point of the match with a default victory at No. 6 singles. Samford would clinch the victory with a 6-1, 6-2 victory at No. 3 and a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 5.

Junior Shannon Bettiol fell 6-2 in the opening set at No. 2 but played neck-and-neck with Yasmeen Ebada in the second set before falling 6-4. The most competitive match of the day came at No. 1 as McLinden battled Stephanie N'tcha who came into the match undefeated in conference play. McLinden cruised to a 6-1 win in the opening set but N'tcha showed why she was undefeated as she came back to take the second set 6-4. With the overall match already clichéd the pair went into a 10-point third set tiebreaker. The tiebreaker would go back-and-forth but with the score tied at seven, N'tcha claimed three of the final four points to win 10-8.

The final match of the day was played at No. 4 as junior Erin Maguire fell to Carita Moolman 6-2, 6-3.

WCU will play a non-conference match against Lenoir-Rhyne on Tuesday at the Catamount Athletic Complex. The match is scheduled to begin at 3 pm.