BOILING SPRINGS, N.C.- Sophomore Catherine White clinched the match for Gardner-Webb from the No. 5 singles position this afternoon as the Runnin' Bulldogs defeated Conference opponent UNC Asheville, 4-3, in Big South action at the Webb Tennis Complex.
The win is Gardner-Webb's second Conference win of the year (2-6) and improves their overall record to 8-9 on the year, while UNC Asheville now sits at 12-6 on the year and holds a 2-5 record in Big South Conference play.
White a sophomore from Rock Hill, S.C. collected her 13th singles win of the year with her match clincher over Hunter Hall. White defeated Hall in straight sets by commanding scores of 6-2, 6-0.
The Runnin' Bulldogs coming out of a doubles turn of events that saw them on the wrong side of all three doubles matches going into tiebreaks capitalized on a much needed strong singles performance.
Other then White Gardner-Webb picked up wins by freshman Stina Magnusson at No. 3 singles, junior Rokia Sacko at No. 2 singles and sophomore Mary Walker Mixon at No. 6 singles. All three wins would follow in White's footsteps with straight set victories.
Magnusson won confidently 6-2, 6-2 over Amryn Soldier at No. 3. Sacko breezed through her No. 2 match winning 6-1, 6-2 over Ericka Rivero, while Mixon handled Lauren Brooker with the 6-3, 6-2 finish at No. 6.
Head Coach Jim Corn had this to say about today's win. "I have never seen a match before where all of the doubles ended up being decided by tiebreaks. With that being said for us to drop the doubles point and still pick up the victory I am extremely proud of the fight and the effort these ladies showed today. The kept scrapping and playing hard and it was a great team win."
A major lift to Gardner-Webb this afternoon was the return of senior Yasmin Doost. Doost returned from a back injury to play her first match in almost a month. Even though Doost dropped her match 6-4, 6-2 to Emily McNall her return brought back stability to the Gardner-Webb singles lineup.
Freshman Sarah Rieckmann playing at No. 4 singles would also fight hard today in singles against Christin Boissevain before falling 6-3, 6-4 to her.
UNC Asheville got the upper hand at the beginning of the match as they took No. 2 and No. 3 doubles in match tiebreaks as Boissevain/Brooker defeated Magnusson/Mixon 8-7(7) and Hall/Soldier took down White/Rieckmann 8-7(4).
Sacko/Stanciu helped momentum shift back to GWU a little as they defeated Rivero/McNall 8-7(4) at the No. 1 doubles slot.
The Gardner-Webb women's tennis team will take a quick break from Conference action as they play host to Charlotte this coming Wednesday, April 8. The match against the 49ers will be the Runnin' Bulldogs penultimate contest on the year and is set to begin at 2:30 p.m. It will senior day for the Runnin' Bulldogs as they will honor lone senior Yasmin Doost and all that she has done for the Garnder-Webb women's tennis program.
