March 19, 2005

Greenville, SC - The Furman women's tennis team opened Southern Conference play with a 7-0 shutout of UNC Greensboro Saturday at the Mickel Tennis Center. With the victory the Lady Paladins move to 8-3, 1-0 in conference, dropping the Spartans to 5-8, 3-2 in the Southern Conferece.

The Lady Paladins got off to a quick start, easily winning all three doubles matches to take the early 1-0 advantage. Furman's momentum carried into sinlges play, as they won the first five matches in straight sets. At No.6 Bonnie Baird downed Ana Martin and at No.5 Lauren Osborne eased by Sophie Rychlik both by a score of 6-0, 6-1. In flight one Mary Neill Hagood defeated Whitney Miles 6-1, 6-1 while in slot two Caroline Bentley hit her way to a 6-1, 6-2 win over Emily Wade. In flight four Jacqueline Eckert posted a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Kate LaCoste. In the last match of the day Furman's Shannon Moore recovered from a first set loss to down Erica Zabkan 4-6, 6-1, 10-8.

With their first conference win of the season, the Lady Paladins Southern Conference regular season winning streak moves to 52 games. The Lady Paladins return to action tomorrow, taking on Chattanooga at noon.

Singles

1. Mary Neill Hagood (FU) def. Whitney Miles (UNCG) 6-1, 6-1

2. Caroline Bentley (FU) def. Emily Wade (UNCG) 6-1, 6-2

3. Shannon Moore (FU) def. Erica Zabkan (UNCG) 4-6, 6-1, 10-8

4. Jacqueline Eckert (FU) def. Kate LaCoste (UNCG) 6-3, 6-2

5. Lauren Osborne (FU) def. Sophie Rychlik (UNCG) 6-0, 6-1

6. Bonnie Baird (FU) def. Ana Martin (UNCG) 6-0, 6-1

Doubles

1. #47 Bentley/Hagood (FU) def. LaCoste/Rychlik (UNCG) 8-1

2. Eckert/Morris (FU) def. Miles/Wade (UNCG) 8-2

3. Manojlovic/Moore (FU) def. Martin/Zabkan (UNCG) 8-1