The Chattanooga women’s tennis team posted an impressive Southern Conference win at No. 59 Elon on Sunday, snapping the nationally-ranked Phoenix’s 11-match winning streak with a 4-3 victory at the Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.
The Lady Mocs rebounded after being swept in doubles, posting four straight singles wins as UTC improved to 10-2 overall—2-2 in SoCon action—with Sunday’s win. Elon dropped to 11-2 and 1-1 in league play.
“This was a great win for us,” UTC coach Jeff Clark said. “They are one of the best teams in our conference and it was a battle today. It was a team effort and we battled at every position.”
Sophomore Kaylene Chadwell clinched the match with her 11th straight victory at No. 2 singles, erasing a 3-0, second-set deficit before battling back to defeat Frida Jansaker (7-5, 6-4). It’s the second straight year Chadwell defeated Jansaker in the deciding match to clinch a dual with the Phoenix.
Freshman Kelsey Coots sparked the comeback with a (6-2, 6-0) win over Barbara Lazarova at No. 5, improving to 4-0 this spring while knotting things up at 1-1, and UTC took a 2-1 lead with freshman Kayla Jone’s comeback win at No. 3. Jones was down a set and facing a 3-0 deficit in the second before finally turning it on. Jones went on to defeat Viviana Stravreva (1-6, 6-3, 6-4) to improve to 11-1 this spring and 22-3 overall.
Senior Jenna Nurik spotted the Lady Mocs a 3-1 advantage with her (6-3, 6-4) win over Jordan Johnston at No. 1, avenging her three-set loss to Johnston in last year’s meeting.
The Phoenix evened things up at 3-3 with back-to-back wins at No. 4 and No. 6, as sophomore Claire Mulyadi lost for the first time in 11 matches this spring, before Chadwell clinched the match with her win over Jansaker.