Tigers drop road matches
By: Billy Owens, Staff Writer
Towson lost a pair of neutral site matchups against Elon and Davidson College at Hillside Courts in Harrisonburg, Virginia, this weekend.
“We knew this was going to be a tough weekend,” Head Coach Doug Neagle said.
Sunday, the Tigers (8-8, 1-4) fell to Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) rival Phoenix (10-9) 0-4 in a match that was suspended due to inclement weather.
Towson was unable to secure the opening doubles point as Elon won two of the three doubles matches.
Natalia Janowicz and Kirsten Ward beat sophomore Lucy Williams and freshman Lucy Gloninger 6-3 at number one doubles and Olivia Lucas and Suzanne Zenoni beat the sophomore pair of A.J. Gomer and Renate van Oorschodt 6-2 at number three doubles.
The sophomore pair of Nicole Shakhnazarova and Barbora Vasilkova were leading 5-2 at number two doubles against Taylor Casey and Erica Braschi when the match was suspended.
Elon won three of the singles matches over Towson to claim victory in the dual match.
Lucas defeated number one Shakhnazarova 7-6 (4), 6-4, Braschi defeated number two Williams 6-3, 6-1, and Zenani defeated number four Gomer 6-2, 6-2.
Number three Vasilkova was leading Janowicz 7-6 (1), 4-4, number five van Oorschodt was tied with Casey 4-4, and Maria Paraja was leading number six Shusterman 4-1 when the match was suspended.
“Elon came out today and played very solid across the board,” Neagle said. “I like our tough schedule, and it will have us ready for [the CAA conference tournament].”
Saturday, Towson fell 0-7 to Davidson College.
The Tigers fell behind early after losing the opening doubles point. The Wildcats’ Ally Sexton and Anna Catharine Feaster defeated Williams and Gloninger 7-6 (5) at number one doubles while Gabrielle Centenari and Elaina Cummer defeated Shakhnazarova and Vasilkova 7-6 (4) at number two doubles.
Towson’s only win of the dual match was a 6-4 victory by sophomore Yevgeniya Shusterman and junior Sophie Lesage over Ava Todd and Sarah Stein at number three doubles.
In the singles competition four out of the six matches went to three sets, but Davidson swept all six matches to complete the shutout.
Feaster beat number one Shakhnazarova 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, and Todd beat number two Williams 6-4, 6-0. Centenari beat number three Vasilkova 5-7, 7-6 (5), 10-7, and Megan Scholvinck beat number four Gomer 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.
Cummer beat number five Gloninger 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2, and Jenna Brunner beat number six van Oorschodt 6-4, 7-5.
“Davidson was 14-2 after beating us and has beaten two top teams in the CAA,” Neagle said.
Towson will travel to Philadelphia to take on CAA rival Drexel Wednesday afternoon, before returning home for the final four matches of the season.