Women's Tennis | 4/16/2016 5:17:00 PM
ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. – The Methodist women's tennis team captured the 2016 USA South Women's Tennis Tournament Championship on Saturday afternoon at N.C. Wesleyan College after defeating the Avenging Angels of Meredith College, 6-3, in the semifinal round.
The championship match was scheduled to take place tomorrow, Sunday Apr. 17, however Covenant does not compete on Sundays and has chosen to forfeit the match, giving Methodist's program its eighth all-time USA South Tournament Championship and the sixth in the past seven years.
Methodist (18-2) went ahead, 1-0, after
Davi Barbour and
Riley Zopp teamed up to defeat Laura Anne Hatcher and Kate DeSilva, 8-4, at No. 3 doubles before Meredith (12-7) evened the score. 1-1, with an 8-4 win by Catherine Bryant and Ran Zhang over
Isabella Graf and
Sam Munze at No. 1. The Monarchs earned a 2-1 lead heading into singles play when
Jenna Landis and
Han Le edged Cailin Goff and Jacqueline Benton, 8-6, at No. 2.
The Green and Gold picked up to back-to-back wins at No. 5 and No. 4 singles when Barbour bested Benton, 6-0, 6-1, and
Ashton Walker topped Hatcher, 6-2, 6-0. The Avenging Angels brought the score to 4-2 when Zhang defeated Munze, 6-3, 6-2, before Landis clinched the match for Methodist at No. 3 with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Goff. Zopp picked up MU's last win of the day at No. 6, winning 7-5, 6-3 over DeSilva.
For their outstanding performance in tournament play,
Ashton Walker and
Jenna Landis were named to the 2016 All-Tournament Team.
With the win, the Monarchs will now await word on their opponent in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
| Singles competition |
| 1. Catherine Bryant (MER) def. Isabella Graf (MUWT) 7-5, 6-4 |
| 2. Ran Zhang (MER) def. Sam Munze (MUWT) 6-3, 6-2 |
| 3. Jenna Landis (MUWT) def. Cailin Goff (MER) 6-3, 6-1 |
| 4. Ashton Walker (MUWT) def. Laura Anne Hatcher (MER) 6-2, 6-0 |
| 5. Davi Barbour (MUWT) def. Jacqueline Benton (MER) 6-0, 6-1 |
| 6. Riley Zopp (MUWT) def. Kate DeSilva (MER) 7-5, 6-3 |
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