Cullowhee, N.C. – After playing seven of its last eight matches away from home, the Western Carolina women's tennis team returns to the comfortable confines of the Catamount Athletics Complex for their Southern Conference home opener on Wednesday (March 13), hosting the Mercer Bears. Wednesday opens a stretch where six of the squad's final seven matches come in SoCon play with four at home and three road contests.
Match Information
Western Carolina (8-7, 0-1 SoCon) vs Mercer (8-4)
March 13 | 1:00 p.m. | Catamount Athletics Complex | Cullowhee, N.C.
Live Stats: https://tinyurl.com/mrxf4zh8
Last Time Out
The Catamounts are coming off a hard fought 6-1 neutral site loss to No. 35 Wake Forest. Andrea Redondo picked up a straight-set singles victory on the fifth court while Jade Groen fought to even the sets on the second court but fell 10-7 in the tiebreaker. The Catamounts nearly came away with the doubles point as well, as the pairings of Isabella Sambola and Angela Perez on the top court and Jade Groen and Madison Schwarz on the second pushed the opposition but fell 7-5.
Mercer enters the week having picked up a home win against the UConn Huskies in a 5-2 decision. The Bears picked up the doubles point and victories on the first, third, fifth, and sixth courts. Their most recent road match resulted in a 6-1 loss to No. 32 Florida State. Wednesday's match marks the SoCon-opener for the Bears.
Players to Watch:
Isabella Sambola made her return to the lineup after missing the Catamounts rivalry matchup with Appalachian State. The sophomore Catamount has posted an undefeated record on the home courts, most recently taking a win in a tiebreaker over Kennesaw State's Taylor Dean. She faced the highest-ranked opponent of her career in Wake Forest's No. 28-ranked Casie Wooten but fell on the singles courts.
The Bears are led by Teodora Ristic's 9-2 record on the top court. The senior from Serbia was on a six-match winning streak on the singles courts before falling to Florida State's No. 5 Ellie Schoppe. She returned to the win column in their matchup against UConn, taking a 6-3, 6-4 victory over the Huskie's Olivia Wright.
Series History
The Catamounts and Bears have only faced each other a handful of times with Mercer leading the series 11-3, though there have been six one-point decisions in the series. Last year's matchup in Macon, Ga. resulted in a 4-3 victory in favor of the Bears, but the last battle in Cullowhee careened into a 6-1 Purple and Gold win. The lopsided point victory is one of only two 6-1 decisions in the series' history, with the other favoring Mercer in the 2016-17 season.
For the latest information on Catamount women's tennis, follow @catamounts or @catamountTennis on Twitter or go to www.catamountsports.com. In-match updates are on the Catamount women's tennis official tennis Twitter page.
