The Furman women’s tennis team continued their undefeated run in the Southern Conference this past Wednesday on April 2 as they rolled past Mercer 6-1 at the LeRoy Peddy Tennis Center in Macon, Ga.
Collegiate tennis matches consist of two rounds. The first round includes three doubles games, while the latter has six singles games. Having won two out of three matchups in doubles, the Paladins secured the opening point of the match. Furman’s junior duo of Sara Synder and Jess Dawson maintained the Paladin dominance on the court with a 6-1 victory at flight two. In a similar fashion, freshman Maeve Thornton and junior Grace Thomas routed past Mercer graduate Mariella Minetti and freshman Tea Zivic at flight three, 6-1.
Much like their victories in doubles, the Dins won five singles matches, including three in straight sets.
Flight #1: Snyder won 6-2, 6-0.
Flight #2: Thornton had a narrow victory at number two, 7-5, 3-6, 1-0.
Both Thomas and freshman Macy Hitchcock won at flights four (6-2, 6-3) and five (6-4, 6-2). Junior Marissa Pennings came from behind to win at number six, 5-7, 6-2, 1-0.
After defeating the Mercer Bears, The Paladins sit at 10-10 (6-0 SoCon). Their neutral record, however, needs a noting of five top-75 oppositions the Dins faced earlier in the season.
Most notably, on Jan. 14, the Dins dropped a 7-0 decision to 17th-ranked Tennessee. They fell 4-0 to #22 Texas Tech in a doubleheader at the Blue Gray Tournament in Montgomery, Ala. on Feb. 23, when they also lost 4-1 to #26 Yale later that evening.
Subsequent to these losses, Furman went on a seven-game win streak beginning with a triumph over Quinnipiac. The Paladins continued their impressive run with six straight victories against Southern Conference foes to remain unbeaten in the league. Their notable SoCon victories include blanking Chattanooga 7-0 on March 30 alongside a 6-2 victory over archrival Wofford on March 20.
The Paladins will next head to Johnson City, Tenn. to face East Tennessee State on April 13 at 11 a.m. This clash will be vital to see who gets the #1 seed in the SoCon Tournament, which will be hosted by Chattanooga from April 18-21.
