Clemson women’s tennis opened up the spring season in dominant fashion, winning all three of its games this past weekend. On Friday, the Tigers beat Georgia State 5-2 and then secured two more wins on Sunday against Liberty and Presbyterian College, 6-1 and 7-0, respectively.
Friday’s match against Georgia State opened with doubles, where Clemson ultimately came out on top. Partners Annabelle Davis and Sophia Hatton opened up the match on a high note, winning 6-1. Georgia State fought back, however, as Maria Paredes and Francesca Miglio defeated the Clemson pair 6-2. However, Artemis Aslanisvili and Gaia Parravicini were victorious in the next set, securing the Tigers the doubles points.
In singles, Candela Yecora picked up the first win for the Tigers with a full sweep over 12 games, securing her first win in a Clemson uniform in memorable fashion. Later on, Parravicini also won her first match as a Tiger, 6-0, 3-6 and 6-0.
Romana Cisovska and Hatton both won their matches in two sets, with Cisovska winning 6-1, 6-2 and Hatton with 7-6(3), 6-1 and 6-3 and 6-2. Georgia State picked up its first win in singles, defeating Sophie Clayton in two sets. To finish off singles, after an attempted comeback, Davis also lost to the Panthers 6-4, 3-6 and 1-0.
Despite the Tigers’ two losses in singles, Clemson still came out victorious, defeating the Panthers by a score of 5-2.
“We are pumped to get the first W on the board,” head coach Boomer Saia said following the game. “Preparing us as we head into Sunday, where we play good Liberty and Presbyterian teams. I am excited and love this group, but the best is yet to come.”
And coach Saia was right; the best was yet to come.
On Sunday, the Tigers started off hot against Liberty, with groups Yecora and Cisovska and Davis and Hatton both quickly winning 6-0, securing the Tigers the doubles point.
The Tigers continued to dominate, going 5-1 in singles. Amelie Smejkalova, Hatton, Davis, Parravicini and Aslanisvili all won after two sets, and Cisovska fought hard but ended up coming short in the third set.
In all, the Tigers nearly swept Liberty, winning 6-1.
The Tigers still craved perfection as they moved on to their second match of the day, and that is exactly what they would achieve.
In doubles, Smejkalova and Parravicini quickly won 6-3, along with partners No. 75 Yecora and Cisovska winning 6-0, giving Clemson the doubles point and leaving no need for Davis and Hatton to finish their match.
Yecora was the first to finish in singles, completing her second full sweep of the weekend. Hatton, Cisovska, Davis and Parravicini continued the perfect streak in singles, all winning in two sets. Smejkalova came out on top in an extra game, winning 6-0, 2-6, 1-0 (10-5) to complete the Tigers’ sweep over Presbyterian College.
“I’m impressed with our fight across the board,” Saia said. “Liberty has plenty of talent, and then to follow it up with a good Presbyterian team and go three and zero on our first weekend. I’m very pleased with the group. We’ve got a lot of stuff to learn, many good things to take away, and another great week of practice before we take it to Oklahoma State.”
