No. 34 Charleston Slips By Braves In Hilton Head

 HILTON HEAD, S.C. – Exhibiting a revamped doubles lineup, UNCP gave 34th-ranked Charleston (W.Va.) all it could handle, but the Golden Eagles used tiebreak wins in the bookends of doubles competition to slip past UNCP, 6-3, in women's college tennis action on Wednesday afternoon at the Port Royal Racquet Club.

The triumph marked the third win in the last five outings for Charleston (18-3) who captured the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship in the fall. UNCP (3-8) suffered its third loss of its annual Spring Breack trip with the setback. The contest marked the fourth nationally-ranked opponent of the current campaign for the Black and Gold, including its third such foe in the last five matches.

Charleston used a key doubles sweep to tack on its 18th victory of the season, grabbing its first point of the day on Marcela Torres and Christina Samoilov's tight 8-6 win at No. 2 doubles over Hannah Herlocker and Christian Minnick. The Golden Eagles would find all they could handle on court Nos. 1 and 3 however, using tiebreakers en route to booking 9-8 wins. UC's Mallika Mali and Ilaisanna Carter used a 7-3 tiebreaker to upend Madeline DiNunzio and Maricel Quintero at No. 3 doubles. Sarah Monsheimer and Laura Smith, the Atlantic Region's fifth-ranked doubles duo, toughed out a 7-5 tiebreaker in ousting Jenna McGary and Mia Winterbottom on court No. 1.

Torres, ranked No. 10 in the Atlantic Region in singles play, fell 7-6, 6-2 to McGary in the featured singles match on court No. 1 to fuel a trio of singles victories for UNCP. Winterbottom eased past UC's Monsheimer 6-4, 6-2, and Herlocker battled back from an opening set tiebreak loss to Samoilov before prevailing 6-7 (7-5), 6-0, 10-6.

Charleston, however, would take the final three singles matches to key the team victory. Smith yielded just one game in topping Quintero 6-1, 6-0 at No. 4 singles, while Carter handed Minnick a 6-2, 6-2 loss on court No. 6. Despite rebounding from an opening-set loss at No. 5 singles with a win in set two, DiNunzio succumbed to Mali by scores of 6-3, 3-6, 13-11.

UNCP will close out its stay in Hilton Head on Thursday when the squad laces up to battle Clarion (2-8) in an 11 a.m. tilt.

#34 Charleston (W.Va.) 6, UNC Pembroke 3
Mar 9, 2011 at Hilton Head, S.C. (Port Royal Racquet Club)