University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Furman Fall Classic
Women's Tennis Starts Slow, Ends Strong
September 25, 2015 | Women's Tennis
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- After a slow start, the Tennessee Volunteers continued to show improvements throughout the day, competing in three rounds of doubles at the Furman Fall Classic.
The day started off with a twist, as inclement weather moved play inside and forced officials to change the schedule. Instead of playing two rounds of doubles followed by a round of singles, the schedule switched to playing all three rounds of doubles in one day.
In the first round, junior Eve Repic and freshman Sadie Hammond jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead, but the momentum was lost after 30-minute delay due to a wet spot on the court. Florida State’s senior duo of Daneika Borthwick and Yukako Noi tied the match at 3-3 after the break. It was a back-and-forth match until Borthwick and Noi pulled away in the end, breaking serve twice in the last three games to win, 8-5.
In their first collegiate match, freshmen Ashley Bongart and Kim Kermet faced off against Paige Cline and Brigit Folland of South Carolina. Unfortunately, the match didn’t go in Tennessee’s favor, as Bongart and Kermet fell, 8-3.
Junior Tiffany Tavares and freshman Margo Taylor fell 8-3 to the doubles team of Daniela Ruiz and Fernanda Navarro from Clemson, closing out the Vols first round of matches.
The second round played out much better for Tennessee, winning two of the three matches.
Repic and Hammond rebounded after going down early to defeat Zoe Douglas and Annette Dohanics from Iowa 8-7 (5) in a tiebreaker. Tavares and Taylor rolled past Iowa’s Adorabol Huckleby and Montana Crawford to an 8-4 win. Bongart and Kermet lost 8-4 to Alabama’s Natalia Maynetto and Joanna Nena Savva.
By the time the third round came around, all of the players, new and old, had shaken off the dust and began to show their improvements since last year.
Repic and Hammond bested South Carolina’s duo of Hadley Berg and Rachel Rohrabacher, 8-2, ending the day 2-1. The duos of Bongart/Kermet and Tavares/Taylor swapped their second round opponents in the final round. Tavares and Taylor took on Maynetto and Savva from Alabama. An early 4-1 lead dwindled away and momentum was lost, as Tavares and Taylor fell, 8-6. The last match to get underway for the Vols was Bongart and Kermet against Huckleby and Crawford of Iowa. The Volunteer duo blanked the Hawkeyes, 8-0, giving each Tennessee doubles team a victory on the day.
With the change in schedule, the Vols will play two rounds of singles tomorrow, starting at 9 a.m. at Mickel Tennis Center.
Furman Fall Classic
Friday Results
Doubles Round One
Borthwick/Noi (FSU) def. Repic/Hammond (UT), 8-5
Cline/Folland (USC) def. Bongart/Kermet (UT), 8-3
Ruiz/Navarro (CU) def. Tavares/Taylor (UT), 8-3
Doubles Round Two
Repic/Hammond (UT) def. Douglas/Dohanics (Iowa), 8-7 (5)
Savva/Maynetto (Alabama) def. Bongart/Kermet (UT), 8-4
Tavares/Taylor (UT) def. Huckleby/Crawford (Iowa), 8-4
Doubles Round Three
Repic/Hammond (UT) def. Berg/Rohrabacher (USC), 8-2
Bongart/Kermet (UT) def. Huckleby/Crawford (Iowa), 8-0
Savva/Maynetto (Alabama) def. Tavares/Taylor (UT), 8-6
