Cullowhee, N.C. – Though the Catamounts entered Tuesday's first home match of the season and the squad's first of the week shorthanded, the Western Carolina tennis team battled for a well-earned 5-2 victory over the Young Harris Mountain Lions at the Catamount Athletic Complex.
The win is the first of the season for the Catamounts, with junior transfer Mia Miranda, freshman Axelle Van Beurden, and freshman Kelly Coetzee all picking up their first singles wins of the team campaign.
Fielding a lineup of only four healthy Catamounts for the second consecutive match, WCU scratched out several hard-fought sets in doubles and singles play. Coetzee and Van Beurden clinched the doubles point for the home team with a 7-6 (7-5) victory, with all four singles matches going to either tiebreak points or a third set.
How it Happened:
Down one doubles team and needing a clean sweep on the doubles courts to take the early point, Mariya Dobreva and Mia Miranda rolled on the top court to a strong 6-1 win.
Kelly Coetzee and Axelle Van Beurden cruised to a 5-2 lead on the second court, but the veteran Young Harris pairing of Tuva Asplund and Callie Stanfield rallied, eventually taking a 6-5 lead in the set. The senior duo held match-point twice with the set tied 6-6, but the freshmen Catamounts won back-to-back points to push to a tiebreak game, and eventually scored the 7-6 (7-5) decision for the all-important doubles point.
The Catamounts gave away two early points on the fifth and sixth courts, forfeiting due to injuries that gave visiting Young Harris a 2-1 advantage before a serve in singles play.
Dobreva was pushed to a tiebreak in her opening set, but rolled to a 7-3 victory to secure the set 7-6. She carried that momentum in her second set, posting a 6-1 victory to even the overall match at two points apiece.
Despite falling 6-3 in her opening set, Miranda gave the Catamounts a 3-2 lead over the Mountain Lions in the match. The junior rallied with a pair of 6-1, 6-0 wins in sets two and three to earn her first singles win of the season.
Axelle Van Beurden was the lone Catamount to run away with her first set, notching a 6-1 win on the third court. The freshman from Antwerp, Belgium, was pushed in her second set, but came away with a 7-6 (7-2) victory for her first career singles win.
Kelly Coetzee battled in a tight match with Viviana Gomez on the fourth court, getting pushed to a tiebreaker in her first set and a third-set tiebreaker. Coetzee rolled in her first set tiebreaker, securing the point with a 7-0 performance and taking the set 7-6 (7-0). She fell 6-3 in the second set, but battled back for a 1-0 (10-8) win in the third.
Up Next for The Catamounts:
WCU is back in action on Wednesday as the Catamounts travel to Boiling Springs, N.C., to take on the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs with a 2 p.m. start. They'll then take on the Presbyterian Blue Hose on Feb. 14 in Clinton. S.C. at 2 p.m.
