Clemson Defeats Furman In NCAA Women’s Tennis Action

May 13, 2005

The Clemson women’s tennis team defeated Furman University by a score of 4-0 in NCAA Women’s Tennis Tournament first round action on Friday afternoon at the Hoke Sloan Tennis Center. The Tigers will face The Tribe of William & Mary in the second round of the tournament at 1:00 PM on Saturday. With the win, Clemson improves to 19-8 on the season, while Furman ends its season with a 22-4 record.

“We know this team well and we play very much the same style,” said Clemson head coach Nancy Harris. “Furman is a tough opponent and they make you play hard. Our girls did a great job being patient and waiting for their opportunities. Furman is a very strong defensive team and we are typically a very strong offensive team. Our hats off to them, as they made us play a lot of points. I am very happy with our performance, because when you don’t play in three weeks a lot of things can go wrong. You can be nervous, you can be off, and you could see it in our doubles. We mishit a lot of balls and they weren’t. They were making us play, but our girls stayed strong and focused.

“Our philosophy is not to look ahead of our next opponent. We play one point at a time and one match at a time, and that’s the way we look at the tournament.”

Clemson opened the match with wins at flights two and three doubles to earn the doubles point. At flight two, the Tigers’ Daniela Alvarez and Maria Brito easily defeated Marti Morris and Lauren Osborne of Furman by a score of 8-0. Clemson’s flight three doubles tandem of Romy Farah and Carol Salge clinched the doubles point for the Tigers with an 8-6 victory over the Paladins’ Shannon Moore and Jacqueline Eckert. The flight one match between Clemson’s Julie Coin and Alix Lacelarie and Furman’s Mary Neill Hagood and Caroline Bentley was not finished.

In singles play, Clemson’s Daniela Alvarez of Clemson picked up another point at flight four singles with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Furman’s Jacqueline Eckert. Romy Farah clinched the match for Clemson at the flight two singles position with her 6-2, 6-2 win over Furman’s Caroline Bentley.

Clemson 4, Furman 0

Doubles 1. Julie Coin/Alix Lacelarie (CU) vs. Mary Neill Hagood/Caroline Bentley (FUR) DNF 2. Daniela Alvarez/Maria Brito (CU) def. Marti Morris/Lauren Osborne (FUR) 8-0 3. Romy Farah/Carol Salge (CU) def. Shannon Moore/Jacqueline Eckert (FUR) 8-6 Order of Finish: 2,3

Singles 1. Julie Coin (CU) def. Mary Neill Hagood (FUR) 6-0, 6-2 2. Romy Farah (CU) def. Caroline Bentley (FUR) 6-2, 6-2 3. Maria Brito (CU) vs. Shannon Moore (FUR) DNF 4. Daniela Alvarez (CU) vs. Jacqueline Eckert (FUR) 6-3, 6-1 5. Carol Salge (CU) vs. Marti Morris (FUR) DNF 6. Ioana Paun (CU) vs. Lauren Osborne (FUR) DNF Order of Finish: 1,4,2