Jefferson City, TN - In a crucial conference road matchup, the Lincoln Memorial women's tennis team came away with a 4-2 victory over rival Carson-Newman in a heavily contested match. The win marks the 11th of the season for LMU as they improved to 11-10 and 6-4 in the conference.
The Railsplitters started the day by earning the hard-fought doubles win to enter singles play up 1-0. In the first doubles pairing, the team of Adriana Pellizzari and Natalia Reimer dominated once again, earning a 6-4 victory after finding themselves trailing 3-1, climbing back for a 6-4 win, marking their 10th win of the season as a team.
In the third doubles draw, the Splitters duo of Lucie Palud and Rosalie Carrier-Dulac fought off a Carson-Newman comeback to secure the lead for LMU. After starting up 4-0, Carson-Newman fought back to tie the set at 4-4 before snagging a 5-4 lead. With their backs against the wall, Palud and Carrier-Dulac rallied to score the final three points, squeaking out a 7-5 win to send the game to singles play.
Transitioning into singles play, LMU would drop the first match before taking a 2-1 lead off the back of Alexandra Ortiz, who in the fifth singles set took home two 6-1 wins to sweep her opponent. The win moves Ortiz to 8-7 this season in individual play while marking her fourth win against a South Atlantic Conference foe.
Mar Garcia Bucosa would put LMU up 3-2 on Carson-Newman, as the Junior had to battle in a close two set victory. The first set would prove the closest of the two for Garcia Bucosa, who traded three-point runs with her opponent before drawing the match at five all. Garcia Bucosa would take the 6-5 advantage, but Carson-Newman forced a winner-take-all final point at 6-6, which Mar would take to give her a 1-0 lead in the sixth singles match. After going point for point to start the second set, Garcia Bucosa pulled away with the final three points to secure a 6-3 win, taking the set in a sweep.
Carrier-Dulac sealed the Splitters win in the fourth singles match, as a three-set victory gave LMU their fourth and final point of the day. Each set proved a tough fight for Carrier-Dulac, who started the match with a 3-0 lead in the opening set before her opponent drew within one. But the senior was able to stay in the lead, as after a 4-4 tie, Carrier-Dulac opened with a 6-4 set one win. Set two went to Carson-Newman, so a third set was needed to decide a winner. Carrier-Dulac opened with a 1-0 lead, but her opponent counted and eventually took a 3-1 advantage. Carrier-Dulac responded with three of the next four points, tying the set at four all. A one-one run would send the set to a 5-5 draw, and Carrier-Dulac would fin the extra step needed to pull away, eking out a break-point to come away with a 7-5 win and her eighth singles victory of the season.
LMU will go to Hickory for the regular season finale, facing No. 22 Lenoir-Rhyne on Saturday with first serve scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
RESULTS
Doubles:
#1: Adriana Pellizzari/Natalia Reimer vs Hala Awad/Abinaya Sweeton: 6-4
#2: Alexandra Ortiz/Mar Garcia Bucosa vs Mar Sarda Marti/Kira Braacke: 4-5 (UF)
#3: Lucie Palud/Rosalie Carrier-Dulac vs Mar Fraile Garcia/Leah McBride: 7-5
Singles:
#1: Adriana Pellizzari vs Hala Awad: 0-6, 2-6
#2: Natalia Reimer vs Kerrigan Spiers: 7-5, 5-7, 1-0 (UF)
#3: Mia Rodriguez vs Mar Sarda Marti: 2-6, 2-6
#4: Rosalie Carrier-Dulac vs Kira Braacke: 6-4, 3-6, 7-5
#5: Alexandra Ortiz vs Leah McBride: 6-1, 6-1
#6: Mar Garcia Bucosa vs Sindija Manovska: 7-6, 6-3
