The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's tennis team won its fifth-straight match with a 6-1 victory over Carson-Newman at the Baylor School's Guerry Tennis Center in Chattanooga today.  The Mocs improved to 5-2 overall while the Eagles had their record evened at 3-3. 


There was action all over the doubles courts to start the day.  The Eagles were cruising to the opening point, up 5-2 and No. 1 and 5-1 at No. 2, before the Mocs mounted a comeback. 
Carson-Newman eventually took the No. 1 match 6-3, but UTC clawed its way back into the point at No. 2.  Senior Annie Tarwater and sophomore Bogdana Zaporozhets ran off six straight games for a 7-5 win at No. 2.  It was their first pairing in a spring dual. 

The opposite was the case in the No. 3 match.  The Mocs jumped out to a 5-2 lead, but Carson-Newman's Alisa Liashova and Klara Vuckovic battled back to tie the match at 5-5.  UTC senior Caroline Hall and freshman Polina Goloputova won the next two games for a 7-5 victory that clinched the doubles point for the Mocs. 

"I am really proud of this team," stated head coach Chad Camper. "I thought we played a really hard Carson-Newman team that did an excellent job in doubles. 

"We had to really fight all of the way back on every court just to get the point.  Annie and Bogdana were down 1-5 and Caroline and Polina had eight match points before they finally put it away."

Playing on four courts, the Mocs kept the momentum of the doubles point by winning the first set in three of the first four singles matches.  Goloputova was first off the court with a (6-1, 6-1) win at No. 2.  It was her third win in a row as she improved to 3-0 in the second spot. 

The Eagles got on the board with a win at No. 1, but senior Delaney Edwards responded with a (6-3, 6-1) win over Liashova at No. 4.  That victory snapped a four-match slide in singles for Edwards. 

Hall clinched the match at No. 3, followed by wins from Van Hee at No. 5 and freshman Anna Didkovskaya at No. 6.  It was the fifth win in a row for both Hall and Van Hee. 

"I thought we did a good job of being efficient in singles, especially Polina and Delaney," added Camper.  "Caroline clinching it was excellent. 

"It was a good day and we got better today." 

Up next for the Mocs is a Sunday match against USC-Upstate.  This is a change from the original schedule that had the Mocs hosting the Spartans on Saturday, Feb. 23.  Rain in the area pushed the dual back a day with a 10:00 a.m. (E.S.T.) start time at the UTC Tennis Center.