HARROGATE, Tenn. – Lincoln Memorial University women's tennis' Kristin Vogel roared back from a set down in her No. 6 singles match to take a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory and clinch another 4-3 dual match win over Lee University inside the Indoor Tennis Facility in Harrogate Thursday evening. Vogel, a junior from Waldbronn, Germany, won her sixth-straight singles match and clinched a team dual for the second time of the young season.
 
The Lady Railsplitters are now 7-1 on the year, improving to 2-1 in matches decided by one point with the win. The visiting Lady Flames dropped to 3-3 on the season with their second one-point loss in three matches.
 
Key singles wins from sophomores Claudia Rodriguez and Amanda Dahlstrom at fourth and fifth singles, respectively, set up Vogel's heroics.
 
"Kristin is built for that situation," said head coach Marc Walters about Vogel's effort. "(Vogel) is a clutch player, and she didn't let the first set or having a shaky serve all day bother her. She played it out with a good mix of going for her shots and grinding when she needed to work her opponent."
 
LMU jumped out to an early 1-0 lead by claiming a tightly-contested doubles point. After the Lady Railsplitters and the Lady Flames traded matches at the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles positions, LMU's tandem of senior Kiersten Waugh and Dahlstrom found themselves locked up at 5-5 with Lee's Micaela Maiz and Carley Sickinger at the No. 2 spot. Dahlstrom made two key volleys as the duo broke serve to lead 6-5, and Waugh served out the match to give the Lady Railsplitters the all-important team point.
 
The Stockholm, Sweden, native followed up her doubles effort with a stellar performance in her No. 5 singles match, topping the Lady Flame's Sierra Donaldson 7-5, 7-6 (7-2) in a see-saw battle that featured five lead changes in the second set. Rodriguez had a slightly easier day on the court, besting Matina Ujdur 6-0, 6-2 in a hard-hitting affair. Those two singles wins stopped the momentum Lee had established on the top three courts, where they took all three in succession to lead 3-1.
 
"We had some interesting matchups today and it made for entertaining tennis," added coach Walters. "Claudia loves to hit out on the ball and bang it and her opponent hit as hard and flat as anyone we've seen all year. Claudia was just a little better at that than her opponent and she won several 30-all points early, which helped her build her confidence."
 
Up Next…
The Lady Railsplitters hit the road for a weekend affair Sunday, traveling to Augusta, Georgia, to face Augusta University in a 12 p.m. first serve at the Newman Tennis Center.
 
How to Follow
Stay tuned to LMURailsplitters.com, as well as LMU's social media platforms - @LMURailsplitter on Twitter, @LMURailsplitters on Facebook and @lmurailsplitters on Instagram, for complete coverage of Lady Railsplitter tennis throughout the 2019-2020 season.