HICKORY, N.C. (Feb. 25) – In a tightly contested Southeast Regional match on Monday afternoon, the Trojans fell short by a 4-3 margin at Lenoir-Rhyne in a non-conference play at the YMCA of Catawba Valley.
With the loss, the University of Mount Olive women's tennis program falls to 0-3 this season after playing a highly competitive schedule to start the spring. The Trojans will return home this weekend for a pair of matches against Coker and West Virginia Wesleyan. Meanwhile, Lenoir-Rhyne continues its impressive start after improving to 3-0 overall following a 14-win campaign last year.
Mount Olive won the doubles session after securing wins in the first and three doubles positions. In the first slot, freshman
Nina Bernier and sophomore
Simone Szovan registered a 6-4 victory over Runa Muderrisoglu and Claudia Orsini. The Bears claimed the second doubles after Nellie Wahlberg and Esther Magnusson defeated freshman
Julie Jagiella and junior
Alina Esser by a 6-0 margin. In the third position, the sophomore duo of
Victoria Calle and
Lara Stamereilers posted a 6-2 victory versus Alexa Allison and Enrica Favaron.
Lenoir-Rhyne rallied in the singles play after capturing wins in four of a possible six matches to escape with a 4-3 win on Monday. In the first singles, Stamereilers battled in a 4-6, 6-2, 3-6 loss to Muderrisoglu while Szovan dropped a 1-6, 1-6 decision against Wahlberg in the second position. Calle recorded a victory in the third slot after rallying to a 1-6, 7-5, 6-4 win versus Orsini. Bernier fell by a 2-6, 2-6 margin to Magnusson in the fourth singles and Esser suffered a 3-6, 2-6 loss to Favaron in the fifth position. Jagiella won in straight sets in the six slot with a 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 win over Allison.
Mount Olive will compete this Saturday, March 1 at the John Neal Walker Tennis Center versus Coker at 1 p.m.
