HARROGATE, Tenn. - Lenoir-Rhyne women's tennis extended its program-record winning streak to 10 matches on Wednesday, and the men's teams extended its winning streak to five matches as both teams took down Lincoln Memorial to finish the Tennessee road trip unblemished. The women took a 5-2 win, and the men won 6-1 over the Railsplitters. The LMU women were ranked No. 20 in the country heading into the match with the Bears.
On the women's side, LMU got the one point in the doubles round, taking two out of three matches.
Evgeniya Pugina and
Sandy Mitsou won 6-0 at No. 3 doubles to avoid the sweep.
In the singles round, the Bears lost the first set in three separate matches, but were able to bounce back each time to win in three.
Gemma Southwick won a hard-fought three set match at No. 1 (2-6, 7-5, 6-1), and Pugina finished a perfect day with a three-set win at No. 2 (2-6, 6-0, 6-4).
Lucy Whelan didn't have much trouble at No. 4 singles, winning 6-2, 6-1, and
Diana Babinets was the final three-set winner at No. 5 (5-7, 7-5, 6-2). Mitsou rounded out the team victory with a 6-1, 6-4 win at No. 6 singles.
On the men's side, the Bears swept the doubles round, with the powerful duo of
Rhodri Atkinson and
Josh Lazenby winning 6-3 at No. 1,
Mauricio Hernandez and Joel Hemming winning 6-4 at No. 2, and
Patrik Alvestrand and
Lewis Scott winning 6-3 at No. 3.
In the singles round, Atkinson (7-6, 6-4) and Lazenby (6-2, 2-6, 11-9) both were victorious at No. 1 and 2 singles respectively, with Lazenby grinding out the longest match of the day for either team. Scott won 6-0, 6-4 at No. 3 singles, Alvestrand won a three-set match (6-2, 1-6, 6-4) at No. 5 singles, and
Zachary Cox rounded out the effort with an 8-5 win at No. 6.
Both teams move to 4-0 in the SAC, and will continue a very busy week on Friday when they travel to Catawba.