Runnin' Bulldogs Fall to Big South Front-Runner Charleston Southern, 5-2, at Home on Saturday
March 15, 2014 | Women's Tennis
Boiling Springs, N.C. - Sophomore Rokia Sacko went 2-0 on the day, helping Gardner-Webb win the opening doubles point at the No. 2 spot and picking up a No. 5 singles triumph, but the Runnin' Bulldogs were unable to slow down Charleston Southern's singles effort in a 5-2 home loss at the Webb Tennis Complex on Saturday.
GWU (8-7, 1-3 Big South) got off to a tremendous start Saturday morning, winning the doubles point against CSU (8-3, 3-0 BSC), one of the Big South's hottest teams.
At No. 2 doubles, Gardner-Webb's duo of Jenny Lunde / Sacko battled for an 8-6 win against the Bucs' Alia Nour / Angelica Sidorenko. Ronia Hutterli and Yasmin Doost teamed up to clinch the doubles point for the Runnin' Bulldogs with 7-6 (1) triumph at the No. 1 doubles spot, knocking off CSU's A.J. Walters / Yvonne Hübler pairing to give Gardner-Webb a 1-0 lead heading into singles play.
Charleston Southern created their own momentum in singles play, winning 5 of 6 matches to earn the road win. The Bucs got wins from Placha (6-0, 6-0) at No. 1 singles, Hübler (6-1, 6-2) at No. 2 singles, Walters (6-2, 6-2) at the No. 3 spot, Lüke (6-0, 6-3) at the No. 4 spot, and Mikala Cooper (6-1, 6-5) at No. 5 singles.
Sacko, a sophomore from Montreal, Canada improved to 14-1 at No. 5 singles on Saturday. Playing against the Bucs' Alia Nour, Sacko played to a 6-3, 7-5 margin of victory at the No. 5 singles spot.
The Runnin' Bulldogs stay in League play the rest of the 2014 season, starting with two Big South road matches this coming week. GWU plays at Liberty on Friday, March 21 (2:00 p.m.) and at Longwood on Saturday, March 22 (12:00 p.m.).
Results: Charleston Southern 5, GWU 2
Doubles
No. 1 Ronia Hutterli / Yasmin Doost (GWU) vs. A.J. Walters / Yvonne Hübler (CSU) 7-6 (1)
No. 2 Jenny Lunde / Rokia Sacko (GWU) def. Alia Nour / Angelica Sidorenko (CSU) 8-6
No. 3 Marketa Placha / Nicolin Lüke (CSU) def. Catherine White / Mary Walker Mixon (GWU) 8-1
Singles
No. 1 Placha (CSU) def. Doost (GWU) 6-0, 6-0
No. 2 Hübler (CSU) def. Lunde (GWU) 6-1, 6-2
No. 3 Walters (CSU) def. Hutterli (GWU) 6-2, 6-2
No. 4 Lüke (CSU) def. Valeriia Popko (GWU) 6-0, 6-3
No. 5 Sacko (GWU) def. Nour (CSU) 6-3, 7-5
No. 6 Mikala Cooper (CSU) def. White (GWU) 6-1, 6-5
