Box Score The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's tennis team earned a 5-2 victory against Mercer Thursday at The McCallie School. 

The Mocs improve to 10-6 overall and 2-1 in Southern Conference action. The Bears fall to 8-12 with an 0-5 mark in league play.

UTC jumped out to a quick start over the Bears, earning the doubles point.

The duo of Kelsey Coots and Kayla Jones won 6-0, while Samantha Caswell and Katie Polk claimed a 6-3 decision.

"No.1 doubles played awesome and beat a very solid team, so that was really good for us," head coach Jeff Clark said. "No. 2 doubles got down a break two different times, and then they win five out of the next six games, so that was good.

"I always say that I would rather be up 1-0 than down 1-0, but win or lose, we knew that the singles would be a fight."

In the singles, Katie Polk got the 6-3, 6-3 win over Mercer's Christie Cesarini, followed by Kayla Jones' victory against Mercer's Katia Stravroulaki 6-3, 6-4 at the No. 1 spot.

At No. 3, Samantha Caswell clinched the match for the Mocs with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Grace Korta.

Lastly, Kelsey Coots gave the Mocs their fifth point with a close, third set tiebreaker win over Mercer's Xandra Fougner (6-2, 7-6, 1-0 (10-8)).

"Kelsey had a nice win, and she beat a good player today," Clark said. "Any conference win is a good win and we'll take it. We won four of the six singles, but there were a lot of close matches in there, and we're fortunate to come out on the winning edge."

The Mocs return to action this Saturday, April 2 at 2 p.m. against Wofford for another SoCon matchup. Competition will be held at the Champions Club, and be sure to check GoMocs.com for live stats.

Since this is the last weekend home match, UTC will honor its four seniors - Coots, Jones, Polk and Alison Storie – before competition starts on Saturday. 

"We've got to get ready physically and quickly, because we'll have to recharge the battery for Saturday," Clark added. "Wofford is a good team and we've got to be ready. It certainly gives us confidence with this conference win, but we're not satisfied and we'll keep trying to get better."

Chattanooga 5, Mercer 2
Mar 31, 2016 at Chattanooga, Tenn. (McCallie)
Doubles competition
1. Kelsey Coots/Kayla Jones (UTC) def. Katia Stravroulaki/Grace Korta (MER) 6-0
2. Samantha Caswell/Katie Polk (UTC) def. Roxy Bartz/Xandra Fougner (MER) 6-3
3. Haley Powell/Liza Klyachkin (MER) def. Rachele Gazzola/Alison Storie (UTC) 6-3

Singles competition
1. Kayla Jones (UTC) def. Katia Stravroulaki (MER) 6-3, 6-4
2. Kelsey Coots (UTC) def. Xandra Fougner (MER) 6-2, 6-7, 1-0 (10-8)
3. Samantha Caswell (UTC) def. Grace Korta (MER) 7-5, 6-3
4. Roxy Bartz (MER) def. Rachele Gazzola (UTC) 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 1-0 (10-3)
5. Haley Powell (MER) def. Alison Storie (UTC) 6-1, 7-6 (7-3)
6. Katie Polk (UTC) def. Christie Cesarini (MER) 6-3, 6-3

Match Notes
Mercer 8-12, 0-5 SoCon
Chattanooga 10-6, 2-1 SoCon
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (6,1,3,2,5,4)
Match moved to McCallie due to rain.
T-3:05 A-25