Box Score The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's tennis team continued its best start in over 20 years with a 5-2 win against Kennesaw State today. The Lady Mocs improved to 5-1 with a solid, non-conference victory at the Champions Club.
"We had a really good win today over a strong team," stated head coach Jeff Clark. "We got off to a good start and were able to battle to the end for the win."
Chattanooga used a mix of youth and experience to take the doubles point over the Owls (5-3). Seniors Emily Hangstefer (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) and Brianna Wishing (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) took the first match with an 8-1 win at No. 3. The Lady Mocs dropped No. 2, but sophomore Alexa Flynn (Memphis, Tenn.) and freshman Kaylene Chadwell (Franklin, Tenn.) clinched the point with an 8-4 win at No. 1.
UTC could not ride that momentum into singles action, falling behind a set in four of the six matches. Freshman Claire Mulyadi (Semarang, Indonesia) did dominate at No. 6, winning 6-1, 6-0. She improves to 2-0 since joining the team in January.
KSU pulled to 2-1 in the team score with a win at No. 2. Senior Shaina Singh (Vancouver, B.C.) fought back after being down a set to put UTC up 3-1 with her win at No 5. She improved to 5-1 in the spring, 4-1 at No. 5 and 11-6 overall.
KSU got to within a point at 3-2 when Virginie Steain defeated Chadwell (7-5, 6-2) at No. 3. That would be the last point for the Owls on the day.
Senior Jenna Nurik (Roswell, Ga.) had an impressive win over Vera Shkundina at No. 1. Nurik had lost in straight-sets in each of her previous two meetings with Shkundina and fell behind early in today's contest. She battled back to take the final two sets for the win (4-6, 6-4, 6-3). Nurik improved to 5-1 in the spring with the match-clinching victory today.
"Jenna Nurik was awesome in singles," added Clark. "She beat a great No. 1 player who had beaten her handily in two previous matchups. She showed great fight and got the clinching point. That was a great win for her."
Hangstefer won her first set at No. 4, but was forced into a third by Jana Heckinghaus. She dropped the first game of the final frame, but won the last six for her 10th singles win of the year.
The Lady Mocs are back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 29, hosting Jacksonville State at the Champions Club. This match was originally scheduled as a road trip to Jacksonville, Ala., but has been moved to the Scenic City. Action begins at 2:00 p.m. (E.S.T) and will be another double-header with the men's teams. Live scoring for both matches will be available on GoMocs.com
Chattanooga 5, Kennesaw State 2
Doubles competition
1. Kaylene Chadwell/Alexa Flynn (UTC) def. Alexandra Apostu/Virginie Stein (KSU) - 8-4
2. Jana Hueckinghaus/Vera Shkundina (KSU) def. Jenna Nurik/Shaina Singh (UTC) - 8-2
3. Emily Hangstefer/Brianna Wishing (UTC) def. Kelsey Kennedy/Therese Lagerkvist (KSU) - 8-1
Singles competition
1. Jenna Nurik (UTC) def. Vera Shkundina (KSU) - 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
2. Alexandra Apostu (KSU) def. Alexa Flynn (UTC) - 6-3, 6-0
3. Virginie Stein (KSU) def. Kaylene Chadwell (UTC) - 7-5, 6-2
4. Emily Hangstefer (UTC) def. Jana Hueckinghaus (KSU) - 6-2, 4-6, 6-1
5. Shaina Singh (UTC) def. Therese Lagerkvist (KSU) - 3-6, 6-2, 6-1
6. Claire Mulyadi (UTC) def. Kelsey Kennedy (KSU) - 6-1, 6-0
