Schroeder Downs No. 22 Alana Smith as Tigers Split Decisions on Sunday
Clemson, S.C. -- The Clemson women's tennis team split decisions on Sunday afternoon, falling first to NC State, 4-3, then rallying to defeat Troy, 7-0. The Tigers are now 12-5 on the season and drop to 1-5 in ACC play. Additionally, senior Tate Schroeder earned her second top-25 win this season after defeating No. 22 Alana Smith of NC State.
"I am incredibly proud of our Tigers today and their efforts," said Clemson Head Coach Nancy Harris. "They continue to fight for every point. Our grueling schedule would discourage most teams but this team, because of their strong character and great desire to win, continue to get better and better. We have faced five of the nation's top ten teams in the last three weeks and it is definitely the most rigorous schedule that we have faced in my tenure at Clemson. I salute their effort and encourage them to keep on fighting as they have demonstrated that they can compete with best in the country."
The Wolfpack claimed the doubles point after winning courts one and three. In singles Clemson dropped its first two matches to put NC State up 3-0. However, Eleni Louka earned a point for the Tigers with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Adriana Reami before the Wolfpack clinched the match on court six at 4-1. On court one, Tate Schroeder picked up her second top-25 victory in over a week after defeating No. 22 Alana Smith, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 . Freshman Ali DeSpain also notched a 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (4-6), 10-7 win over Lexi Keberle at line five.
After clinching the doubles point, 2-0, the Tigers went on to win all six singles matches to defeat Troy 7-0. Sydney Riley secured the first singles victory of the match for the Tigers, winning 6-1, 6-0 at line four. Middlebrooks followed closely behind with a win over Anastasiia Khokhlova and Louka earned her second win of the day at line three after defeating Chunxi Guo, 6-1, 6-4 to clinch the match for the Tigers.
Of Note:
• Sydney Riley's winning streak was snapped at 13 matches during the Tigers' match against NC State.
• Laura Marti is now on an eight-match winning streak while Eleni Louka has won five-straight.
• Clemson earns its eighth-straight program win over Troy.
Up Next: The Tigers are back on the road this weekend for a pair of matches against No. 11 Duke and Elon.