Gardner-Webb Wins Wild 4-3 Match at Wofford on Thursday
March 14, 2014 | Women's Tennis
Spartanburg, S.C. - The Runnin' Bulldogs won the opening doubles point with wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles positions and did just enough in singles play to capture a thrilling 4-3 road win against the Wofford Terriers in women's tennis action on Thursday.
Senior Ronia Hutterli (Duebendorf, Switzerland) played the hero at the Reeves Tennis Center on Thursday, battling through a No. 3 singles match that included a match-defining first set tiebreak to clinch for the Runnin' Bulldogs in dramatic fashion.
With the win, GWU (8-6, 1-2 Big South) breaks a four-match losing skid that began on March 1.
The Runnin' Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead into singles play for the first time since February, prevailing at No's 2 and 3 doubles. Jenny Lunde and Rokia Sacko teamed up for a resilient 8-6 win at the No. 2 spot, and the freshmen duo of Catherine White and Mary Walker Mixon (Atlanta, Ga.) gave GWU an 8-3 win at No. 3 doubles.
A thrilling end to the match saw a total of six tiebreaks played in singles
The wild finish at No. 6 singles served as the exclamation point to a match that provided tight matchups across the board.
After Rokia Sacko (Montreal, Canada) picked up her team-leading 13th singles win at the No. 5 spot with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Kalli Karas, Wofford got on board with a win from Sara Evans at the No. 1 spot after Yasmin Doost was forced to retire during a tight match at the top of the lineup.
Lunde, a senior from Oslo, Norway, stepped up to put the momentum back in the Runnin' Bulldogs' court, moving the visitors one win away from clinching with a 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 victory at No. 2 singles.
Wofford (5-6) picked up its second point of the day thanks to a comeback effort from Catherine Martin, who weathered a fast start from Valeriia Popko (St. Petersburg, Russia) for a 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 6-0 win at the No. 4 spot.
Hutterli's win at No. 3 singles was the second-to-last match to finish. The senior prevailed in another hotly-contested opening set and pulled away for a 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 triumph against Julia Paulson.
It took three tiebreaks to determine the winner in the last match to finish at No. 6 singles between White (Rock Hill, S.C.) and Wofford's Mareli Sanchez. Sanchez came out on top, persevering for a grueling 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (5-7), 10-8 triumph to round out the scoring.
Thursday's thrilling win for Runnin' Bulldogs comes at an opportune time, with a showdown between Gardner-Webb and Big South rival Charleston Southern scheduled for Saturday (10:00 a.m.) at the Webb Tennis Complex.
| Results: GWU 4, Wofford 3 |
