Cullowhee, N.C. -- A short-handed Western Carolina women's tennis team (8-11, 0-4 SoCon) fought valiantly to defend their home courts on Sunday afternoon, but ultimately fell to the Furman Paladins (7-10, 3-0 SoCon) in a 5-2 decision at the Catamount Athletics Complex.
The visitors were gifted an early advantage in the doubles matchup as the Catamounts were unable to field a third pairing on the third court. The Paladins claimed the doubles point as the results on both the first and second courts favored the road team.
Furman then pushed to take straight-set victories on courts five, four, and three in successive order to secure the necessary points for the win on the day. The Paladin run was broken on courts one and two as Isabella Sambola and Jade Groen rattled off straight-set wins of their own, though the two Catamount wins were not without drama.
Sambola cruised to an early 6-2 set one victory before finding herself down 4-2 in the second set. She then cut the deficit to one before Furman's Maeve Thornton responded with another game to take a commanding 5-3 lead. Undeterred, the Catamount standout rallied and responded with four consecutive points to take the 7-5 decision.
While Sambola's critical moment came in the second set, Groen's came in the first as the star sophomore picked up the early advantage thanks to a 7-6 (8-6) score. Groen held a dominant 5-1 edge on the second court but faced a furious rally by Paladin Eleanor Schulson, who eventually took a 6-5 lead in the set. Groen forced a tiebreaker after notching the match at 6 apiece and picked up three consecutive points with the tiebreak tied at five all to earn the win in the first set.
The Catamounts now look to take advantage of a brief reprieve before heading to Birmingham, Ala., to take on the Samford Bulldogs next Friday, March 29. The Purple and Gold return to Cullowhee to close out the home season with the Wofford Terriers on April 5, before heading to Chattanooga for an April 7 matchup with the Mocs to close out the regular season.
Doubles Results
No. 1 E. Schulson/M. Hitchcock (FUR) def. I. Sambola/A. Perez (WCU) 6-1
No. 2 S. Snyder/J. Dawson (FUR) def. J. Groen/M. Schwarz (WCU) 6-3
No. 3 M. Thornton/G.Thomas (FUR) def. No Player (WCU) win by forfeit
Order of Finish: 1, 2
Singles Results
No. 1 I. Sambola (WCU) def. M. Thornton (FUR) 6-2, 7-5
No. 2 J. Groen (WCU) def. E. Schulson (FUR) 7-6 (8-6), 6-3
No. 3 G. Thomas (FUR) def. A. Perez (WCU) 6-4, 6-3
No. 4 M. Hitchcock (FUR) def. M. Schwarz (WCU) 6-4, 7-5
No. 5 J. Dawson (FUR) def. D. Osadova (WCU) 6-3, 6-1
No. 6 M. Pennings (FUR) def. No Player (WCU) win by forfiet
Order of Finish: 5, 4, 3, 1, 2
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.
