CLINTON, S.C. – The Presbyterian College women's tennis team played a tightly contested match against Georgia Southern on Saturday afternoon but, ultimately, the Eagles (2-1) prevailed with a pair of late wins in singles to edge the Blue Hose (5-2), 5-2.
PC opened the match by claiming the doubles point with wins on courts one and two. Caroline Ferrari and Demi Henschel earned a 6-4 victory at No. 1, their second victory as a pair. Claire-Mitchell Andrews and Tracy Johnson earned a win at No. 2, 6-4, giving PC the early 1-0 lead.
Georgia Southern evened the match at 1-1 with a win on court one by Riepe to start singles play. The Eagles then took the lead with 7-5, 6-4 wins at both No. 6 and No. 3 in a pair of close matches.
Tracy Johnson would respond for PC, earning a 6-3, 7-5 victory on court two to cut the GSU advantage to 3-2 with two matches to play. Nuttall and Andrews each claimed the opening set of their respective matches, 6-4, on courts four and five, before dropping the second to force a deciding third set in each.
Andrews battled throughout the third set, despite an early deficit, but fell to Georgia Southern's Francisca Norregaard, 6-1, as the Eagles clinched the victory. Nuttall went back-and-forth with GSU's Emilia Bujan in a very tight third set, before falling 7-5.
PC returns to action on Tuesday when it travels up the road to Spartanburg to face USC Upstate at 3 p.m.
Georgia Southern 5, Presbyterian 2
Singles
1. Giulia Riepe (GSU) def. Caroline Ferrari (PC) 6-2, 6-1
2. Tracy Johnson (PC) def. Mariana Ranzahuer (GSU) 6-3, 7-5
3. Lindsay Truscott (GSU) def. Demi Henschel (PC) 7-5, 6-4
4. Emilia Bujan (GSU) def. Brittany Nuttall (PC) 4-6, 6-1, 7-5
5. Francisca Norregaard (GSU) def. Claire-Mitchell Andrews (PC) 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
6. Mary Phillips Smith (GSU) def. Nicole Croxton (PC) 7-5, 6-4
Doubles
1. Caroline Ferrari/Demi Henschel (PC) def. Francisca Norregaard/Lindsay Truscott (GSU) 6-4
2. Claire-Mitchell Andrews/Tracy Johnson (PC) def. Mariana Ranzahuer/Emilia Bujan (GSU) 6-4
3. Mary Phillips Smith/Giulia Riepe (GSU) def. Brittany Nuttall/Nicole Croxton (PC) 6-3
Order of finish: Singles (1,6,3,2,*5,4)
