The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's tennis team gave head coach Jeff Clark a nice birthday present with a 7-0 sweep of Jacksonville State at the Champions Club today.  The Lady Mocs improved to 6-1 on the season, their best start since 1991. 

"I am really happy that we came out today and took care of business at every position," stated Clark who turned 39 today.  "It is always difficult to win 7-0, but we did just that.  I am really pleased with the performance from top to bottom."

Chattanooga continued its dominance in doubles play, winning the opening point for the seventh time in as many matches this season.  The Lady Mocs breezed through the first two matches against the Gamecocks (3-5, 0-0 OVC), winning 8-1 at No. 2 and No. 3. 

The top match was a close one between JSU's Raisa Guasti and Raphaela Lima and UTC sophomore Alexa Flynn (Memphis, Tenn.) and freshman Kaylene Chadwell (Franklin, Tenn.).  Trailing 7-6, the Chattanooga tandem fought off a match point to force a tiebreaker.  Flynn and Chadwell won the break 7-5 for their third straight win since taking over the top spot. 

It was more of the same in singles action, with UTC dropping a total of just seven games in the six first sets.  None of the matches went to a third set and none of the individuals lost more than three games in a match. 

Junior Jenna Nurik (Roswell, Ga.) won her fourth straight with a (6-0, 6-1) victory at No. 1 over Guasti.  She is 6-1 at No. 1 this spring and 14-4 overall.  Flynn followed that with a (6-3, 6-0) decision over Lima at No. 2, her first win in the second slot this spring.  She is 10-4 overall. 

Freshman Claire Mulyadi (Semarang, Indonesia) won her third straight since entering the lineup at No. 6.  She posted a (6-1, 6-2) win over Kelly Tomlin to clinch the team win.  She has only dropped four games in her last two matches. 

Chadwell snapped a two-match losing skid with her (6-1, 6-1) win at No. 3 over Rafaela Wenzel.  It was her first win at No. 3 in three matches, improving to 9-7 overall.  Senior Emily Hangstefer (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) moved to 11-4 - 4-2 at No. 4 - with her (6-0, 6-1) win against Zoe Bizinos. 

Senior Shaina Singh (Vancouver, B.C.) completed the sweep with a (6-2, 6-1) win at No. 5.  She is 5-1 at No. 5, 12-6 overall, and has won seven of her last eight. 

"We have just got to keep working hard and competing," added Clark.  "We have a tough match this weekend, but we have to keep improving from week to week.  We will be ready to go."

Chattanooga hits the road its next match at UT Martin.  The Lady Mocs face the Skyhawks at 2:00 p.m. (E.S.T.) on Saturday, March 3, in Martin, Tenn.  A link for live scoring will be available on the women's tennis schedule page on GoMocs.com. 

Chattanooga 7, Jacksonville State 0
Doubles competition
1. Kaylene Chadwell/Alexa Flynn (UTC) def. GUASTI, Raisa/LIMA, Raphaela (JSU) - 8-7 (7-5)
2. Jenna Nurik/Shaina Singh (UTC) def. BIZINOS, Zoe/WENZEL, Rafaela (JSU) - 8-1
3. Emily Hangstefer/Brianna Wishing (UTC) def. KERINDI, Danielle/TOMLIN, Kelly (JSU) - 8-1

Singles competition
1. Jenna Nurik (UTC) def. GUASTI, Raisa (JSU) - 6-0, 6-1
2. Alexa Flynn (UTC) def. LIMA, Raphaela (JSU) - 6-3, 6-0
3. Kaylene Chadwell (UTC) def. WENZEL, Rafaela (JSU) - 6-1, 6-1
4. Emily Hangstefer (UTC) def. BIZINOS, Zoe (JSU) - 6-0, 6-1
5. Shaina Singh (UTC) def. KERINDI, Danielle (JSU) - 6-2, 6-1
6. Claire Mulyadi (UTC) def. TOMLIN, Kelly (JSU) - 6-1, 6-2