Box Score |   

Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina suffered a setback in Southern Conference women's tennis action on Wednesday afternoon, falling in straight sets, 7-0, to one of the league-leaders, Chattanooga, on-campus at the Catamount Athletic Complex.

Chattanooga (17-2, 5-0 SoCon) claimed its 10th-straight victory on the season, clinching the victory in singles competition on the third individual match win against the short-handed Catamount side. UTC's Samantha Caswell downed WCU junior Erin Maguire 6-0 and 6-1 to claim the first win for the visiting Mocs in the fourth flight, while WCU freshman Montse Mesalles dropped a decision to Claire Mulyadi by the same count at No. 5.

In addition to the singles point gained by the vacated spot at No. 6, the match was decided when UTC's Kelsey Coots defeated junior Shannon Bettiol, 6-1 and 6-2, at No. 3.

After dropping the first set, 6-0, WCU senior Megan McLinden put up quite a fight in the No. 1 spot before eventually falling to UTC's Kayla Jones - the defending SoCon Player of the Week - by a count of 6-4.

The most entertaining match of the day occurred at No. 3. WCU junior Nicole Nielly bounced back strong after dropping the opening set, 6-1, to Kaylene Chadwell. Nielly forced the second set to the brink before bowing out, 7-5.

With the final decision already in the books, the two squads played a pair of doubles matches at No. 1 and No. 2 with the third flight claimed by UTC by default. The Catamounts' No. 1 doubles squad of McLinden and Bettiol grabbed an early, 4-3, lead in their match against Jones/Caswell. However, the Mocs' top flight rallied to claim five-straight sets to claim the match, 8-4. It also gave UTC the final point of the day.

At No. 2 doubles, the pairing of Nielly and Mesalles fell by three, 8-5, to UTC's duo of Rachele Gazzola and Storie.

Western Carolina (4-12, 1-3 SoCon) plays its final scheduled road match of the regular season on Saturday, April 11 as it visits Wofford in Spartanburg at 2:00 pm. The Catamounts then have four home matches - two in conference play - before heading to Greenville, S.C., for the SoCon Women's Tennis Championships.