The women’s tennis team took a close one against the cruising UNC Charlotte 49ers Friday afternoon on the road, winning 4-3.
The match started off rocky, with Clemson duos of Sophia Hatton and Annabelle Davis and Romana Cisovska and Candela Yecora losing their doubles matches 6-4 and 6-3, respectively. Clemson’s Gaia Parravicini and Artemis Aslanisvili did not finish their match due to the doubles portion already ending.
With this loss, Yecora and Cisovska will likely fall out of the national rankings. The two victories secured Charlotte the doubles point and left a hole for the singles players to work out of.
The Tigers found much more success on the singles side, winning four out of six matches. Parravicini started things off with a straight-set victory over Shona Nakano. The 49ers evened the score in the second finishing match, with Lucia Aranda cruising to a win over Cisovska in straight sets.
Aslanisvili righted the ship, defeating Yelyzaveta Chainykova 7-5, 6-0. Hatton got redemption for her doubles loss in straight sets against Sara Suchankova, 6-2, 6-4.
The 49ers kept it interesting, as Amira Badawi captured a difficult, three-set win over Annabelle Davis, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
The momentum was not theirs for long, however, as freshman Amelie Smejkalova clinched the match for the Tigers quickly thereafter, winning 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 against Ni Xi.
This was the Tigers’ fifth win of the season and second road success. They look to ride this momentum into a series of home matches this week. After defeating the Gamecocks on Tuesday, the team will face Fordham, Mercer and Kansas at Duckworth Family Tennis Facility this weekend.
