CARROLLTON, Ga. - The Lady Blazer tennis team of Valdosta State rolled on their first day of Gulf South Conference play with a pair of 7-2 wins over both Lee and West Georgia on Saturday in Carrollton, Ga..
The Lady Blazers kicked the day off against the Wolves at No. 1 doubles with an 8-2 victory for
Jennifer Rink and
Anke Poncelet over Taylor Lefton and Gabrielle Chanthaphaeng, and
Bea Morales Hernandez and
Joanna Lario teamed up to smoke Sierra Brown and Sara Watson 8-0 at No. 2.
Singles play between the two squads featured dominant play by the Lady Blazers, as Morales Hernandez cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 win over Lefton at No. 1, before
Jennifer Rink picked up a convincing win at No. 2 when she defeated Nicole Northrup 6-3, 6-4.
Joanna Lario added to VSU's success against UWG with a 6-0, 6-7(5), 10-7 win over Chanthapaeng at No. 3, while Poncelet defeated West Georgia's Watson at No. 4.
Taylor Vinge closed out singles action at No. 5 with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Whitney Maples. The only four losses of the day came by way of forfeit due to an shortened, injury plagued roster for VSU.
The second match of the afternoon was more of the same for the Blazers against Lee, as Rink and Poncelet rolled pastTonya McGraner and Maclain Yowarsky 8-1 at No. 1 in doubles play before Morales Hernandez and Lario struck again with an 8-2 win at No. 2 over Krista Good and Marta Garcia Nieto. The strong doubles effort put VSU out in front 2-1 heading into singles play, as Valdosta State suffered another forfeit at No. 3 doubles.
Action concluded in singles play at No. 1 where Morales Hernandez capped off her outstanding day with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over McGraner. At No. 2,
Jennifer Rink blew by Maclain Yowarsky 6-1, 6-2 before Lario cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 win over Garcia Nieto.
VSU put an exclamation point on the day with back-to-back victories from freshmen Poncelet and Vinge over Jodie Rice and Good, respectively.
VSU improved to 2-1 overall, 2-0 against GSC opponents. Their next matchup will take place next weekend at Lynn on Valentine's Day, February 14, beginning at 10:00 a.m.
