Lady Braves Capture Fourth-Straight Win With Victory Over Catawba

PEMBROKE – The Lady Braves toughed out a pair of doubles victories and then swept singles play to give UNCP an 8-1 victory over Catawba and its fourth-straight win this season at UNCP Varsity Tennis Courts on Wednesday afternoon. 

Catawba (7-9) took an early 1-0 lead after No. 2 doubles tandem Ally Prior and Steffi Cook defeated Leigh-Anne McAfee and Hannah Herlocker 8-5 before UNCP (8-7, 0-4 PBC) captured victories at Nos. 3 and 1 doubles to send the Lady Braves into singles competition leading 2-1. Madeline DiNunzio and Beverly Vause ousted Candance Hall and Olivia Myers 8-6 on court No. 3 before Mia Winterbottom and Shelby Bickel came back after being down 7-6 to win at No. 1 doubles, 9-7, over Maggie McKee and Sloan Kessler. 

Winterbottom captured her seventh-straight singles win after upending Kessler 6-0, 6-3 in the featured match on court No. 1, while McAfee beat Prior 6-1, 6-2 at No. 2 singles. Herlocker ousted McKee 6-1, 6-3 in No. 3 singles before Allison Johnson beat Hannah Kovach 6-0, 7-5 at No. 6 doubles. Monica Espitia surrendered just two games in posting a 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 5 singles over Hall. Bickel finished the day by dropping the first set at No. 4 singles, and then won the second set 6-4 to Cook. She then won the tiebreaker match 10-7.

The Lady Braves will return to action when they travel to Americus, Ga., to take on Georgia Southwestern (3-7, 1-5) on Saturday. Match time is slated for 11 a.m.