Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina women's tennis picked up its first win of the season in an emphatic 7-0 victory over Young Harris on Saturday afternoon at the Catamount Athletics Complex. The win puts the Catamounts at 1-2 on the season, while the Mountain Lions contested the match as an exhibition as a NCAA Division II representative.

All eight Catamounts on 2025 roster saw action in the straight set rout with Isabella Sambola, Jade Groen, Madison Schwarz, and Angela Perez each going 2-0 on the day.  

The top doubles court resulted in a tightly contested battle between the combo of Groen and Madison Schwarz and their Young Harris counterparts Simone Mercier and Futaba Saito. While the tandem of Chloe Schwarz and Andrea Redondo with the Sambola/Perez pairing had already clinched the doubles point with wins on courts two and three, respectively, the top Catamount pairing was pushed to extra play before coming away with the 7-5 victory heading to the singles courts.  

Chloe Schwarz and Redondo rotated out of the singles lineup, bumping Perez and Madison Schwarz to courts three and four respectively, while freshman Zoe Lui and English-born junior Dasha Osadova rounded out the lineup on courts five and six.  

Sambola, Groen, Lui, and Osadova each took control of their matches early and rode to singles victories without much drama. The closest score came in a 6-3 decision in Lui's favor on the fifth court. Perez and Schwarz claimed straight set victories, but in more exciting fashion with Perez taking a 7-5 win in set one over Maud Scholten and Schwarz claiming the final win of the day with a 7-6 (7-2) tiebreaker in set two.  

Up Next for The Catamounts: 

Catamount tennis is back in action in one week, hitting the road to face the Davidson Wildcats next Saturday, Feb. 1 in the Charlotte suburb. WCU then returns home for three straight matches against Tusculum (Feb. 3), Appalachian State (Feb. 8), and Presbyterian (Feb. 9).  

Results: Western Carolina vs Young Harris 

Singles 

1. Isabella Sambola (WCU) def. Simone Mercier (YHC) 6-1, 6-2 
2. Jade Groen (WCU) def. Futaba Saito (YHC) 6-1, 6-0 
3. Madison Schwarz (WCU) def. Viviana Gomez (YHC) 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) 
4. Angela Perez (WCU) def. Maud Scholten (YHC) 7-5, 6-2 
5. Zoe Lui (WCU) def. Holly Ashford (YHC) 6-2. 6-3 
6. Dasha Osadova (WCU) def. Callie Stanfield (YHC) 6-2, 6-2 

Doubles 

1. Jade Groen/Madison Schwarz (WCU) def. Simone Mercier/Futaba Saito (YHC) 7-5 
2. Chloe Schwarz/Andrea Redondo (WCU) def. Holly Ashford/Maud Scholten (YHC) 6-2 
3. Isabella Sambola/Angela Perez (WCU) def. Callie Stanfield/Isabella Ezeta (YHC) 6-1