April 5, 2009

Final Stats

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Kennesaw State women's tennis team swept through Nashville, Tenn. this weekend, taking a pair of Atlantic Sun Conference matches from Lipscomb and Belmont to return home with an even 9-9 overall record and a 5-3 mark against the conference.

The Owls weekend began with a close 4-3 decision over the Bisons (5-10, 0-6) on Friday and ended with a dominant 5-2 victory over Belmont (7-10, 1-8) on Saturday morning. The weekend sweep was the Black and Gold's first of the season and marked just the second time that the squad has won back-to-back matches this year.

"We knew that this could be a good weekend for us if we played well," said Kennesaw State Head Coach Brandon Padgett on the Owls sweep. "For the most part, we did just that."

It took a bounce-back effort to earn the victory in the Owls first match after Lipscomb emerged from the doubles portion with the early lead by taking two of three matches. MacKenzie Swindall and Agatha Palider combined for an 8-5 win at No. 2, but the Owls fell 9-7 at No. 1 and 8-1 at No. 3 to cede the first point to the Bisons.

The team responded nicely in singles, winning four of six matches in straight sets to earn its second-consecutive win over LU. Vera Shkundina cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 win over Raphaela Jann at No. 1 and Mercedes Cobos defeated Elizabeth Keevil 6-2, 6-1 at No. 3.

Palider and Swindall earned singles wins as well, defeating their opponents at No. 5 and No. 6 respectively to seal the Owls win. Palider beat Claire Landry 6-4, 6-0 before Swindall closed out the match with a 6-2, 6-4 defeat of Olivia Ellis.

Belmont also grabbed the early lead on the Owls after taking two of three doubles matches. Abby Leatherwood and Abby Hogan denied Palider and Swindall a perfect weekend, outlasting KSU's winningest doubles team 8-6 at No. 2. The Owls lone doubles win came at No. 3 when Morgan Carney combined with Cobos for an 8-3 dismantling of Laura Stack and Lindsey Bennett.

Singles was once again the saving grace for the Black and Gold as the Owls cruised to their second-straight win by taking five of six matches.

Shkundina moved to 13-4 on the season with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Warren at No. 1, while Palider and Swindall also earned double-digit wins after perfect weekends. Palider moved to 11-4 with her 6-1, 6-1 win over Bennett at No. 5 while Swindall improved to 10-4 with a comeback 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 win over Lauren Irick at No. 6.

Alena Sergeychik and Carney also returned to the winning-side of the ledger after losing at Lipscomb. Sergeychik plodded to a 6-2, 6-4 win at No. 3 before Carney battled back from down a set to overcome Hogan 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 at No. 4.

"Dealing with the lack of practice, I cannot complain about the way we played," added Padgett. "Each player made giant contributions during the weekend, and we accomplished what we wanted to do, which was sweep this weekend."

The Owls will be back in action on Tuesday April 7th when they wrap up their A-Sun schedule with a 3 p.m. showdown with in-state rival Mercer at the KSU Tennis Complex. They will then conclude their home schedule on Thursday when they host the University of Alabama-Birmingham Blazers at 1 p.m. on senior day.