Hickory, N.C. - In the regular season finale, the Lincoln Memorial women's tennis team fell on the road to the 22nd-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne Bears in a 4-2 final. The loss puts the Splitters record at 11-11, 6-5 in the conference entering the tournament.
The Railsplitters picked up a win during doubles play, as the second pairing of Mar Garcia Bucosa and Alexandra Ortiz secured a 6-4 victory. The Splitters pair started trading points with the Bears, as neither side was able to establish a lead of more than one point, as 2-2 became 3-3 and eventually 4-4. After taking the 5-4 lead, Garcia Bucosa and Ortiz took the largest and final lead of the match, securing the 6-4 win as the pair netted their sixth victory together of the season.
LMU got on the board in the second singles match, as Natalia Reimer secured her seventh win of the season in style, taking two sets from her opponent. The match began with a quick first set, as Reimer turned a 2-0 lead into a 4-1 advantage in the blink of an eye. Despite a late push by the Bears, Reimer surged ahead to take the first set 6-2 in style.
The second set for Reimer started much of the same, as she made quick work of a 4-1 lead. But LR fought back, closing the gap to within one as Reimer went into the eighth point of the set up just 4-3. But Reimer surged back, scoring the last two in the set to solidify a sweep with a 6-3 win.
Garcia Bucosa netted the second win of the day for the Splitters, taking a three-sets win in the sixth singles match. After the Bears began the day with a 6-2 win, Garcia Bucosa found herself in the second set down 0-2. Facing a deficit, the Junior clawed back, going on a 6-0 run to take the second set 6-2 before breezing to a 6-1 win in the third set. With her win, Garcia Bucosa moved to 5-2 this season with three wins against conference opponents.
The Railsplitters finish puts them in the South Atlantic Conference tournament in Sumter, South Carolina, as LMU will play at 2:00 p.m. on April 16th, with their opponent still to be determined.
RESULTS
Doubles:
#1: Natalia Reimer/Adriana Pellizzari vs Enrica Favaron/Claudi Orsini: 4-6
#2: Mar Garcia Bucosa/Alexandra Ortiz vs Mehetia Boosie/Runa Muderrisoglu: 6-4
#3: Rosalie Carrier-Dulac/Lucie Palud vs Nellie Wahlberg/Alexa Allison: 5-7
Singles:
#1: Adriana Pellizzari vs Runa Muderrisoglu: 0-2, 2-6
#2: Natalia Reimer vs Claudia Orsini: 6-2, 6-3
#3: Mia Rodriguez vs Nellie Wahlberg: 0-6, 1-6
#4: Rosalie Carrier-Dulac vs Sandra Mahbouli: 4-6, 5-7
#5: Alexandra Ortiz vs Mehetia Boosie: 6-4, 4-5 (UF)
#6: Mar Garcia Bucosa vs Disha Santosh Khandoji: 2-6, 6-2, 6-1
