CLEMSON, S.C. – In the first doubleheader of the season, the Tigers secured two victories over Georgia State (7-0) and Western Carolina (7-0) to complete their first set of shutouts in the 2024 campaign. The duo Jenna Thompson and Eleni Louka clinched the doubles point against both the Panthers and the Catamounts.
“Everybody showed up, it’s never easy to play a doubleheader so we talked a lot about having a professional-like approach so doesn’t matter if we are tired, we always give ourselves a reason to win,” Head Coach Boomer Saia said. “I credit our kids a lot, every one of them stepped up, brought it both matches after a long weekend of tennis so overall I am just really proud of the work they did.”
Clemson 7, Georgia State 0
In doubles, the Tiger duo of Sophia Hatton and Alina Tsyurpalevych earned the first victory as they took down the pairing of Sara Radojevic and Pragnya Kumar, 6-1.
Securing the doubles point for Clemson was the court one pairing of Thompson and Louka as they defeated Georgia State’s Andreea Stanescu and Alba Retortillo Sorias in a 6-1 victory. This marks the second match in a row that Tiger pairing has clinched the doubles point for Clemson as they secured the point for the Tigers in Friday’s match against ETSU.
In singles, Leigh Van Zyl was the first to defeat her opponent on court six as she took down Luciana Galvez 6-1, 6-2 to extend the Tigers lead over the Panthers. Following Van Zyl, Christina Mayorova secured her first singles victory of the day as she defeated Stanescu 6-1, 6-3.
Clinching the win for the Tigers was Tsyurpalevych as she earned the third singles victory of the match to secure the 4-0 lead for Clemson. The freshman defeated Georgia State’s Francesca Miglio in a thrilling tiebreak set as she came out on top 6-2, 7-6 (7-4). Thompson (7-5, 7-6 (7-5)) and Hatton (2-6, 6-3, 6-1) played out their matches as they both secured wins over their opponents to help Clemson earn the 7-0 shutout over Georgia State.
With the win over the Panthers, Saia tabbed his second win of the season and second victory as head coach for the Tigers.
Clemson 7, Western Carolina 0
In doubles, the pairing of Hatton and Tsyurpalevych were first to complete their doubles match for the second match in a row. The duo took down Western Carolina’s Andrea Redondo and Jade Groen 6-1 on court three.
For the third consecutive match, Thompson and Louka secured the doubles point for Clemson as they downed the sibling duo of Chloe and Madison Schwarz, 6-2.
In singles, Van Zyl was first to finish on court six as the sophomore defeated Redondo 6-1, 6-0 as she secured her second singles victory of the day. Following Van Zyl, Mayorova earned her second win of the day as she took down Groen 6-0, 6-2 on court one.
Securing the victory for Clemson was Louka as she was the third Tiger to win their singles match against the Catamounts as the graduate sealed a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Western Carolina’s Isabella Sambola.
Tsyurpalevych recorded another singles victory for the Tigers after taking down C. Schwarz 6-4, 6-3 as the freshman was the fourth to finish for Clemson. After being up 5-0, Hatton helped the Tigers increase their lead as she won her second singles match of the day against M. Schwarz, 7(7)-6(1), 6-3 to give Clemson the 6-0 advantage.
Completing the sweep for Clemson was Thompson as she secured a comeback win over Angela Perez, 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 to seal the second 7-0 victory of the day over Western Carolina.
Up next, the Tigers will compete in the ITA Regionals in Raleigh, N.C. starting on January 27 and wrapping up on January 28.
Clemson (2-0) vs Georgia State (0-1)
Doubles
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles
Order of Finish: 6, 2, 4, 1, 3, 5
Clemson (3-0) vs Western Carolina (0-1)
Order of Finish: 6, 1, 2, 3, 5, 4
