Tusculum College returned to its South Atlantic Conference
schedule with an 8-1 victory over Catawba College in Women's tennis
action Tuesday afternoon at the Nichols Tennis Complex.
The 47th-ranked Pioneers (10-1, 2-0 SAC) swept doubles and won the
first two singles matches to clinch the win over the Indians (10-6,
1-4 SAC) in the team's first completed home match since February 22
and its first conference match since February 27.
In doubles action, the Pioneers jumped to a 3-0 lead as Franziska
Funke and Amanda Sumner defeated Liz Renteria and Erisa Onchi 8-3
at flight one, Erin Mills and Kealee Heffner downed Kristen Rocko
and Lauren Sledd 8-1 at flight two, and Emily Waters and Jule Brass
beat Rachel Rudisill and Maddie Henderson 8-3 at flight three.
In singles, Brass beat Rocko 6-2, 6-4 to give the Pioneers a 4-0
lead, and Mills had the clinching point with a 6-4, 6-3 win at
flight three over Henderson. Funke beat Onchi 6-2, 6-0 at flight
two, while Waters downed Sledd 8-3 and Sumner beat Rudisill 8-4 in
pro sets at flights five and six, respectively.
Tusculum will prepare for a showdown with 35th-ranked Wingate on
Friday afternoon at 2:30 at the Nichols Tennis Complex. The
Pioneers and Bulldogs have finished first and second in the
conference in each of the last three years, and one or both of the
teams has won at least a share of the SAC championship in 10 of the
last 14 years.