HARROGATE, Tenn. --- Tusculum senior Franziska Funke became the winningest singles player in program history with a straight-set victory as the 15th-ranked Pioneers defeated Lincoln Memorial 8-1 in South Atlantic Conference women's tennis action Wednesday afternoon at the LMU Indoor Tennis Facility.
Funke defeated Kristin Vogel 6-4, 6-2 at flight two for her 65th career dual-match singles victory, surpassing Tusculum and SAC Hall of Famer Lesley Murray who compiled 64 victories from 2001 to 2004. Funke is now 65-11 all-time in singles for the Pioneers, including a perfect 11-0 record this season.
The Pioneers (14-0, 4-0 SAC) swept doubles from the Railsplitters (8-4, 2-2 SAC), and won the first three singles matches in straight sets to clinch the victory. Tusculum has won 34 of 36 contests between singles and doubles in their four league matches so far this season.
In doubles, the fifth-ranked team of Annie McCullough and Caitlin McCullough defeated Marta Pinol and Angelica Solano 8-3 at flight one, Funke and Katarina Majorova teamed for an 8-1 win over Johanna Delisse and Julia Loos at flight two, and Africa Mota and Amber Lackey beat Julia Valls and Vogel by a score of 8-5 at flight three.
Majorova, ranked 16th in Division II singles in this week's ITA survey, beat Pinol 6-2, 6-1 at flight one and Funke, ranked 59th nationally, followed with her record-setting win over Vogel at flight two. At flight three, 55th-ranked Annie McCullough defeated Loos 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 for the sixth point of the match for the Pioneers.
The rest of the match was completed as pro sets, with Caitlin McCullough defeating Valls 8-7 (7-3) at flight four and Mota downing Solano 8-7 (7-5) at flight six. LMU's only point came at flight five as Julia Zellner defeated Angelica De Vincenzis 8-3.
The Pioneers will prepare for a road showdown with 22nd-ranked Wingate on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Bulldogs (10-3, 3-0 SAC) and Pioneers have combined to win six of the last seven SAC Championship tournament titles, and four of the last five regular-season meetings have been decided by a 5-4 score. Wingate has won 62 consecutive SAC regular-season matches, with its last loss coming to Tusculum on March 26, 2012.