Braves Fall To No. 8 Columbus State

PEMBROKE – Visiting and eighth-ranked Columbus State swept through doubles competition and yielded just seven games in taking all six singles matches in straight sets en route to a 9-0 victory over UNCP on Saturday afternoon at UNCP's Varsity Tennis Courts.

The loss kept the Braves (4-8, 0-4 PBC) winless in the league, while Columbus State (11-2, 5-1) captured its third-straight Peach Belt Conference victory with the triumph. It was also the eighth shutout win for the Cougars this season as well.

CSU's No. 1 doubles tandem of Loriane Favoretto and Hanane Toumi got the visitors going early with a quick 8-2 win over Jenna McGary and Janna Oxendine, while Sofia Persson and Gabriela Vasilescu followed suit a short time later with a win on court No. 3 over UNCP's Christian Minnick and Maricel Quintero-Prieto.

Tracy Castillo and Caterina Kiefer would finish off the doubles sweep with an 8-3 win on court No. 2 over Meredith Pierson and Mia Winterbottom.

Toumi, ranked 25th in the latest singles ranking by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, gave CSU its first point in singles play with a 6-1, 6-0 win on court No. 3 over Pierson, while Persson finished off a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Quintero-Prieto at No. 4 singles to clinch the team victory for the Cougars. Castillo shut out Winterbottom 6-0, 6-0 on court No. 2, while Kiefer and Redrado yielded just one game in posting 6-0, 6-1 wins over Oxendine and Minnick, respectively.

Castillo defeated Winterbottom by 6-0, 6-0 scores while Favoretto ousted Minnick 6-1, 6-3 despite trailing 1-0 in each set.

UNCP will be back in action again on Sunday when the Braves lace up to battle PBC foe Georgia Southwestern (4-9, 0-7) in an 11 a.m. match at the UNCP Varsity Tennis Courts. Columbus State will travel to Florence, S.C., on Sunday for an 11 a.m. tilt with fourth-ranked Francis Marion (8-1, 4-0).