Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Lincoln Memorial University tennis programs kicked off their conference season with a pair of wins over visiting Coker here Saturday. Both teams captured the doubles points on the way to the victories, with the men winning 6-1 and the women securing a 5-2 decision.
The women (10-1, 1-0 SAC) took advantage of a short-handed Cobra lineup to earn a walkover at third doubles and #6 singles, and
Amanda Dahlstrom,
Julia Valls and
Valentina Ascarrunz each won in straight sets to give LMU their final margin. The Splitters have won 9 straight duals and seem to have found a good formula for their outdoor games, according to head coach Mark Walters.
"We looked really comfortable today despite the new lineup and a pretty consistent wind blowing all day," said Walters. "Valentina is playing as good as she has since she's been here, and Julia and Amanda have a lot of confidence."
The men's match was a much closer affair with several singles matches going into tie-breaks and the doubles coming down to one break at #2 where
Luca Pavan and
Franco Battaglino edged Janis Jung and Isaac McMillian 7-5. After splitting the first two doubles, LMU was serving 5-2 before Coker rolled up three straight games to tie the match. But the 'Splitters broke back to lead 6-5, and Pavan then served out the match with help from Battaglino at net. The men (5-5, 1-0 SAC) now have a modest three game win streak heading into Tuesday showdown with Limestone University here at the Poteat Complex. The Limestone men beat LMU 2-5 last season in Gaffney, a match that the Railsplitters would have liked to have had back.
"I was happy that Luca and Franco got that result after letting a comfortable lead slip away," said Walters. "That team (Pavan and Battaglino) has struggled a bit indoors, facing bigger serves and faster pace. Today we retuned very well and except for a little brain freeze to let them back in the match, they rebounded great to get it back."
Both teams face the Saints here at the Poteat Complex at 2pm Tuesday, but the match may switch to the Indoor Center if the conditions call for it. The site will be a match-time decision Tuesday, according to Walters.
"We don't worry too much about the weather, and we have that luxury with the TIC (Tennis Indoor Center)", he said. "I know we'll have some great matches Tuesday, so I am hoping we get a decent crowd out to support the kids."
