HILTON HEAD, S.C. -- The Fairmont State University women's tennis faced the University of Mount Olive in its final match in South Carolina. The Falcons opened the match strong by sweeping doubles play, but the Trojans rallied in singles to claim the overall victory, 4-2.
Fairmont State built early momentum by taking all three doubles courts. At No. 1 doubles, the Falcons' pairing of
Hope Backx and
Lara Smith battled to a tight 7–6 (7–2) win over Mount Olive's duo of Nina Bernier and Simone Szovan.
The Falcons controlled the other two doubles matches more comfortably. At No. 2,
Maria Fonseca and
Stephanie Gopar secured a 6–2 victory against Victoria Calle and Alina Esser. The No. 3 tandem of
Alara Akgul and
Jada Mae Okoye matched that scoreline, defeating Julie Jagiella and Courtney Howell 6–2 to give Fairmont State a 1-0 lead heading into singles.
Mount Olive, however, flipped the momentum in singles play. Szovan defeated Fonseca 7–5, 6–0 at No. 1, while Calle outlasted Backx in a three-set battle at No. 2, 1–6, 6–4, 10–7. Bernier added another point for the Trojans with a 6–2, 6–2 win over Smith at No. 3.
The Falcons pushed several matches deep, including a three-set contest at No. 4 where Gopar split the first two sets before falling to Jagiella 6–3, 3–6, 10–5. Mount Olive also picked up a straight-sets win at No. 5 as
Laura Maciel defeated Esser 6–4, 6–2.
The No. 6 match between Akgul and Howell was ultimately abandoned.
Fairmont State (4-3) returns to campus on Sunday, March 15 to face Bloomsburg University. Match time from the Fairmont State University Tennis Courts is set for 12:00 p.m.