ECU Upsets No. 69 Charleston Southern, 4-3

April 15, 2010

Charleston, S.C. - After dropping the doubles point, the East Carolina women's tennis team went on to win four singles matches for the 4-3 victory over nationally ranked Charleston Southern Thursday afternoon at the CSU Tennis Complex.

The Pirates were supposed to host Charleston Southern on February 13 but the weather did not permit. The win improved ECU to 17-3 over all while the Buccaneers endured their third loss of the season dropping their record to 16-3.

The match was very important as both teams were coming off losses and preparing for conference play. CSU earned their second loss earlier in the week to cross-town rival No. 68 College of Charleston, 6-1, while East Carolina was also rebounding from a loss to South Carolina State by the same score.

Charleston Southern opened up the match by taking the doubles point with 8-4 victories at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions. Andrea Schutte and Angie Torres teamed up against Jessica Cook and Audrey LePottier at No.1 while Susita Das and Brooke Pletcher were matched up against Natalie Collins and Tamara Sachs at No.3. CSU also took the No. 2 doubles match as Marija Dzakovic and Olga Makhova defeated Petra Vogel and Yilian Zhang 8-7.

In singles play, Zhang posted the first victory for the Pirates with the 6-3, 6-0 victory over Andrea Gonzalez in the No. 5 flight. With the score tied at one a piece, Torres posted the 6-2,6-4 triumph over Abby Richmond at No.6 while LePottier handled Pletcher 6-3, 6-3 at No.5 to even the score once again.

The match went down to three-set matches at the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 positions. In the No. 1 matchup Makhova survived a Cook rally to win 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, before Vogel followed in similar fashion with the 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Schutte at No.2. In a clutch situation, Collins battled back after dropping the first set to claim the team as well as a personal victory over Dzakovic 2-6, 6-4, 6-1. Collins is on an 11-match with a 14-5 record at the No. 3 slot.

The Pirates are on their way down to Orlando, Fla. to take on the Golden Nights of UCF at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

EAST CAROLINA 4, NO. 69 CHARLESTON SOUTHERN 3
Singles Play
No. 1 - Olga Makhova (CSU) def. Jessica Cook (ECU); 6-4, 4-6, 6-1
No. 2 - Petra Vogel (ECU) def. Andrea Schutte (CSU); 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
No. 3 - Natalie Collins (ECU) def. Marija Dzakovic (CSU); 2-6, 6-4, 6-1
No. 4 - Audrey LePottier (ECU) def. Brooke Pletcher (CSU); 6-3, 6-3
No. 5 - Yilian Zhang (ECU) def. Andrea Gonzalez (CSU); 6-3, 6-0
No. 6 - Angie Torres (CSU) def. Abby Richmond (ECU); 6-2, 6-4
Doubles Play
No. 1 - Schutte/Torres (CSU) def. Cook/LePottier (ECU); 8-4
No. 2 - Dzakovic/Makhova (CSU) def. Vogel/Zhang (ECU); 8-7
No. 3 - Susita Das/Pletcher (CSU) def. Collins/Sachs (ECU); 8-4
Team Records: East Carolina 17-8, Charleston Southern 16-3

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