Comeback rally falls short against Winthrop

Saturday, January 26

Nashville, Tenn.

9 a.m.

University of Memphis

Winthrop

Photo by: Don Claussen

Jan 26, 2019 | Women's Tennis

Box Score

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – After an early 3-0 deficit, a valiant rally fell short as Memphis women's tennis dropped a 4-3 decision against Winthrop Saturday afternoon to close the ITA Kick-Off Weekend.

"Today's match is what college tennis is all about – two evenly matched teams battling it out and coming down to the lat match on. It doesn't get any closer than that," head coach Hayden Perez said. "I'm very proud of the efforts from everyone today. We win as a team and lose as a team, and today we fought hard against a very solid Winthrop team."

The Eagles claimed the opening doubles point and then took the first two singles courts to establish a 3-0 advantage.

The Tigers (0-2) wouldn't go silently as the Memphis answered with three singles victories to even the match.

Sophomore Laura Bente etched the Tigers' first win of the day, a 6-4, 6-3 victory on court 2. Freshman Aleks Topalovic dropped the opening frame on court 3, but claimed the next two sets to pick up her first career dual-match singles win and close the gap.

Junior Claire Sullivan evened the contest with a three-set victory on court 5. The Memphis native claimed the first set in a tiebreak. After dropping the second set in a tiebreak, Sullivan cruised in the third frame to tie the match at 3-3.

In the deciding match, Katherine Cao dropped a three-set heartbreaker on court 6. Despite an early setback, Cao rallied to force a third set. The junior provided one final comeback bid in the third, but fell 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.

Memphis will travel west for its next trio of matches. The Tigers will face Arizona and Northern Arizona in Tucson, Ariz., on Friday before capping next weekend at Arizona State.

Singles
1. Lauren Proctor (WIN) def. Alisha Reayer (MEM), 6-3, 6-4
2. Laura Bente (MEM) def. Alisa Soloveva (WIN), 6-4, 6-3
3. Aleks Topalovic (MEM) def. Megan Kauffman (WIN), 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
4. Rafaela Santos (WIN) def. Lina Hohnhold (MEM), 6-2, 6-3
5. Claire Sullivan (MEM) def. Tayla Van Eck (WIN), 7-6(0), 6-7(5), 6-1
6. Ellie Burns (WIN) def. Katherine Cao (MEM), 6-2, 5-7, 6-4
(Order of finish: 4, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6)

Doubles
1. Proctor/Kauffman (WIN) def. Hohnhold/Reayer (MEM), 6-1
2. K. Cao/Davies (MEM) vs. Soloveve/Santos (WIN), 3-4, unfinished
3. Van Eck/Burns (WIN) def. Bente/J. Cao (MEM), 6-3
(Order of finish: 1, 3)