ERIE, Pa. -- The Mercyhurst women's tennis team earned its 17th consecutive victory, earning an 8-1 non-conference win over Charleston (W. Va.) on Saturday at Pennbriar Athletic Club. The matchup was between two regionally-ranked teams: the Lakers are No. 2 in the Atlantic while UC is No. 4.
The Lakers swept doubles action and then took the next five singles matches. The win was clinched with a win by
Saioa Gomez de Segura at No. 1 singles.
Mercyhurst's freshman duo of Ivona Plecevic and Athina Tsagkaraki got the Lakers on the board with an 8-5 win at third doubles over Bri Guthrie and Alize Uyttenhove.
Saioa Gomez de Segura and
Adina Spahalic (No. 4 Atlantic doubles) followed with the next Laker point, edging Katie Swann and Elise Edwards, 9-8 (7-4), at No. 1 doubles. At second doubles,
Kayla Frost and
Adrianna Jeffress (No. 6 Atlantic doubles) finished off MU's last doubles point with an 8-6 triumph against Kristine Gegeshidze and Silvana Slusarciuc.
In singles play, Spahalic pushed the Laker lead to 4-0 with her win at fifth singles over Guthrie, 6-1, 6-1. That set the stage for the clincher by Gomez de Segura, who is rated 14th in NCAA Division II and No. 1 in the Atlantic. Gomez de Segura bested Swann (No. 8 Atlantic singles), 6-3, 6-3.
The matchup between Gomez de Segura and Swann was one of three contests between regionally-rated players; the other two occurred at Nos. 2 and 3 singles.
UC's Gegeshidze (No. 6 Atlantic singles) defeated Frost (No. 2 Atlantic singles) in the second singles match, 1-6, 7-5, 6-4, while Mercyhurst's Jeffress (No. 3 Atlantic singles) outlasted Edwards (No. 9 Atlantic singles) in the third singles contest, 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (10-7).
Plecevic and Tsagkaraki also had singles wins for Mercyhurst (17-0). Plecevic defeated Slusarciuc, 6-1, 6-4, at No. 4 singles, and Tsagkaraki was a winner over Uyttenhove at sixth singles, 6-3, 7-5.
Gomez de Segura extended her individual win streak to 16 while Spahalic is on a 15-match win streak, Tsagkaraki has won 14 straight matches and Plecevic is on an 12-match winning streak. Jeffress has won seven straight. Singles records for each player are as follows: Gomez de Segura (30-2), Frost (22-5), Jeffress (25-3), Plecevic (21-4), Spahalic (18-2) and Tsagkaraki (17-4).
Gomez de Segura and Spahalic teamed for their 20th consecutive doubles win; they are 23-1 in their last 24 matches. Frost and Jeffress combined for their 12th straight win in pairs action. Plecevic and Tsagkaraki are 9-1 in their last 10 matches together.
Mercyhurst 8, Charleston (W. Va.) 1
| Singles competition |
| 1. #14 S. Gomez de Segura (MER-W) def. Katie Swann (UC-W) 6-3, 6-3 |
| 2. Kristine Gegeshidze (UC-W) def. Kayla Frost (MER-W) 1-6, 7-5, 6-4 |
| 3. Adrianna Jeffress (MER-W) def. Elise Edwards (UC-W) 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (10-7) |
| 4. Ivona Plecevic (MER-W) def. Silvana Slusarciuc (UC-W) 6-1, 6-4 |
| 5. Adina Spahalic (MER-W) def. Bri Guthrie (UC-W) 6-1, 6-1 |
| 6. Athina Tsagkaraki (MER-W) def. Alize Uyttenhove (UC-W) 6-3, 7-5 |
| Match Notes |
| Charleston (W. Va.) 15-5 |
| Mercyhurst 17-0 |
| Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (5,1,3,4,6,2) |
