Cullowhee, N.C. -- Western Carolina women's tennis wraps up its spring break tournament action as the Catamounts face both the Lamar Cardinals and the Fairfield Stags on Wednesday and Thursday in Orlando, Fla. The matches will be the second and third of the week for WCU after the Catamounts earned a 5-2 victory against the FDU Knights on Monday night.
The Catamounts (7-7) face the Cardinals (2-10) and Stags (1-7) for the first time in program history. The meeting with Lamar is Wednesday, March 12, at 6:30 p.m. on the courts at the USTA National Campus before battling the Stags on Thursday, March 13, at 12:30 p.m. at the Lake Cane Tennis Center.
Wednesday and Thursday's Tennis Matchups:
Western Carolina (7-7) vs Lamar (2-10) | March 12 | Orlando, Fla. | 6:30 p.m.
Western Carolina (7-7) vs Fairfield (1-7) | March 13 | Orlando, Fla. | 12:30 p.m.
Players to Watch:
The Catamount duos of Chloe Schwarz / Jade Groen, Andrea Redondo / Isabella Sambola, and Madison Schwarz / Angela Perez rolled in their doubles matches against FDU and look to do so again in their final two matches this week. Groen holds the top doubles record for the Catamounts at 7-5 with Chloe Schwarz and Madison Schwarz close behind at 7-4 and 6-4, respectively. Andrea Redondo also has an above .500 record in doubles play, going 6-5 this season.
Groen is already up to nine singles wins on the year and her next will put her in rarified air in the Catamount record books with 39 singles victories, the most in a career for a Catamount since Jordan Strickland posted 38 from 2017-20. Chloe Schwarz also has an impressive singles record, going 7-1 in her matches with five three-set battles under her belt already.
Lamar is led in terms of record by Megan Do, 4-1 as the third seed. She is the only Cardinal with a winning record on her respective court this season and comes into Wednesday night's matchup on a three-match winning streak. Do most recently picked up a 7-5, 6-4 win on the third court against Southeast Louisiana and was responsible for one of only two points in the match for Lamar. Top-seed Arina Gudovskaya recorded the other with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 win.
Victoria Mandma and Anna Neyestani lead the Fairfield Stags as the top and second seeds respectively, going 3-1 in singles play on their primary courts. The duo most recently picked up three-set wins against the Bryant Bulldogs as the Stags fell 4-3.
Up Next for The Catamounts:
The Catamounts return home to host the NC A&T Aggies on March 21 to honor seniors Angela Perez and Andrea Redondo. The squad then sprints through the remainder of the Southern Conference season, hosting Samford (March 23), UNC Greensboro (March 29), and Chattanooga (March 30). WCU is back on the road again on April 5 to take on the Mercer Bears.
