Friday, April 14, 2006
NO. 23 LADY BLUE HOSE CLAIM 2006 SOUTH ATLANTIC CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP WITH 9-0 VICTORY OVER LENOIR-RHYNE COLLEGE
HICKORY, N.C. — The No.23-ranked Presbyterian College women’s tennis team claimed the outright 2006 South Atlantic Conference regular season championship this morning with a 9-0 victory over the home standing Bears of Lenoir-Rhyne College. With the victory, PC improves to 14-3 overall (6-0 SAC), while Lenoir-Rhyne falls to 7-14 overall (0-7 SAC).
PC, the defending regular season champion, clinches their second straight and fifth overall regular season crown since the SAC started recognizing a in-season champion in 2000.
The Lady Blue Hose took control early with a sweep of all three doubles matches. PC’s Florence, S.C. duo of sophomore Brittany Lanford and junior Lisa Moyer defeated LRC’s freshmen duo of Amanda Hunsucker (Conover, N.C.) and Amanda Stewart (Statesville, N.C.) 8-0 at the No. 2 flight, while junior Catherine Bankhead (Amarillo, Tex.) and freshman Abby Diminich (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) added to the lead with an 8-0 victory over freshman Kate Meiners (Monroe, N.C.) and freshman Jennifer Binney (Cocoa Beach, Fla.).
Lanford pushed PC’s lead to 4-0 during singles with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over sophomore Mary Alice Parlier (Statesville, N.C.). Moyer clinched the deciding point at No. 4 singles with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Hunsucker. Diminich won 6-0, 6-0 over Binney at No. 3 singles, while PC sophomore Kari Fuller (Suwanee, Ga.) defeated Stewart 6-1, 6-1 to increase the Lady Blue Hose lead to 7-0.
Bankhead defeated junior Mary Hulet Kitterman (Louisville, Ga.) 6-2, 6-0 at the top singles flight, while junior Lauren Brown (Gaffney, S.C.) completed the sweep for PC with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Meiners at No. 2 singles.
The Lady Blue Hose will be the top seed in next week’s 2006 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Women’s Tennis Championship. Presbyterian will host a first round match on Wednesday, April 19 with the winner advancing to next weekend’s semis and finals which will be held on Saturday, April 22 on the Carson-Newman College campus in Jefferson City, Tenn.