Charleston Southern University Team Page
http://csusports.com/article.asp?articleID=4208
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Andrea Schutte stepped up to the plate on Senior Day and the No. 70-ranked Charleston Southern women’s tennis team followed in the footsteps of the lone senior as the Buccaneers never dropped a set in a 7-0 victory over Radford University Saturday afternoon at CSU Tennis Complex.
The win was the second-straight shutout for CSU (14-1, 6-0 Big South), and it also guaranteed the Bucs at least a share of the Big South Conference regular-season championship. Due to tiebreaking rules, Charleston Southern is now also guaranteed the No. 1 seed in the postseason conference tournament.
This is the second time in school history that CSU has won at least a share of the regular season title (won outright in 1998).
Radford (11-4, 3-2 Big South) had its nine-match win streak snapped, and the Highlanders fell to 6-2 on the road. This is the third-straight shutout for Charleston Southern over RU, as the Bucs defeated Radford 7-0 in the regular season last year and then took out the Highlanders 4-0 in the postseason conference tournament.
Schutte teamed up with Angie Torres at No. 1 doubles to help CSU earn the first point of the day. They defeated Mirna Matic and Ivana Tomaic 8-2.
Marija Dzakovic and Olga Makhova blew past Mia Drobjnak and Sarah Tegner 8-3 at No. 2 doubles, and Susita Das and Brooke Pletcher fought hard for an 8-7 (7-3) triumph over Petra Dajevic and Emerald Lauzon from the third position.
Makhova started things off strong for CSU from No. 1 singles. She cruised to a 6-1 opening-set victory, and Drobnjak was forced to retire with an injury to push the score to 2-0 in favor of the home team.
Schutte’s match was never in doubt as she easily dispatched of Tomaic 6-2, 6-3 from No. 2 singles.
Torres didn’t have too much trouble beating Lauzon, as she won 6-0, 6-1 from the sixth position. Pletcher took down Matic 6-1, 6-3 from No. 4 singles, and Das handled Tegner 6-2, 6-3 from the fifth position.
The closest singles match of the day came from the third spot. Dzakovic and Dajevic had an exhilarating first set that was back and forth the whole way. Dzakovic pushed through in the end and broke serve to win 7-5. She used the momentum gained from taking that first set and coasted to a 6-2 victory in the second set to complete the shutout of the Highlanders.
Makhova, Pletcher, Schutte and Torres are now a combined 21-2 in singles play against conference opponents this year.
CSU improved to 10-0 at home this season.
The 14 wins this season are the second most in a single campaign in school history, and the Buccaneers have a minimum of five matches left to break the all-time mark of 15 set in 2007. CSU is also guaranteed to finish with a winning record, which will be just the third time in school history the team has accomplished that feat (8-7, 1998, 15-6, 2007).
