After breaking their five game losing streak by defeating Georgia Southern, the Lady Paladins traveled to the west coast for a match against Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo and #56-ranked UC Santa Barbara.
In sunny California, the Lady ‘Dins didn’t give the Mustangs a chance and tromped them by winning all six singles matches.
The Paladin wins included Lauren Kline, Katherine Oudin, Alex Moreno-Kaste, Michele Stanford, Amanda Murray and Margaret Boyette.
The Lady Paladins traveled further south to take on UC Santa Barbara and bumped their winning streak to three by beating the Gauchos, 4-3.
Ironically, the match was delayed in the middle of the match as rain plagued the courts. Yet, before the rain hit, senior Lauren Kline won her singles matches, 6-3 and 6-2.
Then Michele Stanford and Amanda Murrary followed suit with two more wins, carrying Furman to the 3-3 tie. Starting up again the next day, Furman doubles team Kline and Alex Moreno-Kaste defeated the Gaucho’s 8-3.
On a winning-high, Margaret Boyette and Kelly Sullivan defeated Megan Carter and Karolina Kecki with a 8-4 win. Sadly enough, the Lady ‘Dins seemed to leave their luck in California. After returning, the Lady Paladins challenged Clemson on their Tiger turf.
Clemson, ranked #14, destroyed Furman with a 6-1 score at the Hoke Sloan Tennis Center in Clemson, SC. The Tigers dominated the singles matches and only let Furman take one win by Kelly Sullivan.
The doubles competition did not prove much better as Clemson swept the board.
Their season brought them back home and the Ladies stepped up their game and won five of six matches against #72 East Carolina for the 5-2 win.
For a second, the Pirates looked forceful as they came out at the start of the match with a swashbuckling intensity and took two of the three doubles matches to gain the first opening point.
Kline and Moreno-Kaste held on strong and overcame Nicole LaCuca and Neena Wanko, 8-3, to ensure a doubles win for Furman.
When it came to the singles, Furman outperformed the East Carolina Pirates and took five of six wins. Wanko took the only East Carolina singles win against Kline, 6-3, 6-4.
With the end of spring semester rapidly approaching, the Paladins will continue their 5-6 season in ten more SoCon matches.
Finally, they will close out 2013 with a Southern Conference Tournament starting Apr. 18.
The next match will be in Boone, NC against Appalachian State.