GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University women's tennis team defeated the highest-ranked opponent in program history on Monday as the Pioneers upended 10th-ranked Newberry College 5-2 in South Atlantic Conference action from the Nichols Tennis Complex.
The 47th-ranked Pioneers (12-5, 8-1 SAC) earned their third win over a ranked opponent this season and surpassed the previous highest-ranked opponent Tusculum has defeated, which was a 4-3 win over 11th-ranked Wingate on April 6, 2019. Tusculum had been 0-15 against top 10 teams since joining NCAA Division II in 1999.
Tusculum won the doubles point from Newberry (13-3, 8-2 SAC) and won three of the first four completed singles matches to clinch the victory and move into second place in the SAC standings behind Wingate (8-0), which will visit the Nichols Tennis Complex for a conference showdown on Tuesday morning.
The Pioneers locked up the doubles point with the first two completed matches, starting with a 6-1 victory by Leonie Floeth and Ylva Frafjord Landa over Aina Miralles and Hazel Vernon. At flight two, Elodie Baechler and Valentina Loretz teamed to beat Sofia Cardenas and Rosie Harfield 6-4 to give Tusculum the 1-0 lead in the match. The Wolves would win in a tiebreaker at flight one to avoid the sweep.
Tusculum went up 2-0 in the match as Landa defeated Harfield 6-0, 6-4 at flight six, but Newberry came back to pull within 2-1 with a 7-5, 7-6 (8-6) win at flight two from Ish Singh over Baechler. The Pioneers went ahead 3-1 with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) win at flight four by Paulina Loretz over Miralles, and Floeth clinched the victory at flight one as she downed Nastassia Chamoun 6-4, 6-2.
In the remaining matches, Valentina Loretz earned a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Vernon at flight five, and Newberry's Cardenas beat Tabitha Howe 6-4, 6-2 at flight three to wrap up the afternoon.
Wingate will be the third straight ranked opponent for the Pioneers, as the Bulldogs are 15th in Division II this week with a 13-2 overall record. The match between the Pioneers and Bulldogs will begin at 10:30 Tuesday morning at the Nichols Tennis Complex.
