April 20, 2007

Agate

Charleston, S.C. - The top-seeded Furman women's tennis team performed nearly to perfection in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference Tournament on Friday morning, cruising by No. 8 Appalachian State, 4-0, at The Earle Tennis Center on the campus of The Citadel. The Lady Paladins (14-9) advance to the semifinals where they will take on No. 5 UNC Greensboro. The Mountaineers season comes to a close with a final record of 10-15.

During the regular season, Furman did not lose a doubles point to a conference opponent. There was nothing different about this match as the Lady Paladins posted 8-3 victories at number one and number three to take the early lead. First-team all-conference honorees Laura Gioia and Natasa Manojlovic defeated Amanda Cash and Anja Gugger at flight one, while Lauren Tomory and Lisa Bornt-Davis closed out the point with their win over Frances Blanton and Caroline Mauch at position three. Furman was leading number two doubles 6-2 before the match was called.

The Lady Paladins lost a total of two games in the three singles matches they won to take the victory. Junior Lauren Osborne shutout Monica Tomas, 6-0, 6-0 at flight two. Defending SoCon Tournament MVP Bonnie Baird recorded her 16th win of the season with a 6-1, 6-0 defeat of Cash at number three. Manojlovic secured the win for Furman with a 6-0, 6-1 mark over Mallory Cook at number six. Furman was leading in the other three singles matches.

The Lady Paladins will challenge UNC Greensboro in the semifinals on Saturday, April 21 at 8:30 a.m. Furman is looking for its fourth consecutive league tournament title.