Lady Cougars Fall to Samford, but Rebound to Blank Alabama-Huntsville to Open 2010 Season

Columbus, Ga. -- The Columbus State women's tennis team finally got its 2010 schedule underway with a pair of matches in Birmingham over the weekend. CSU fell to Division I Samford 6-1 and then defeated Alabama-Huntsville 9-0 to get off to a 1-1 start.

CSU took one singles match and one doubles match against Samford on Saturday, but were playing Division I rules where the doubles competition counts for a single point. Sofia Persson was the lone winner in singles, winning against Lindsey Mallory 7-5, 6-1 at the number five spot. In doubles, Caterina Kiefer and Tracy Castillo won at #2 doubles, but CSU fell in the other two spots to close the point.

On Sunday, CSU won the first three singles matches handily with convincing wins by Loriane Favoretto (#1), Castillo (#2) and Hanane Toumi (#3). The final three matches played single super sets with Persson winning 8-0, Kiefer winning 8-1, and Lucy Bird winning 8-2.

In doubles, UAH managed to win just one game in the three matches as CSU took the 9-0 match win.

The Lady Cougars return to the courts on Saturday, hosting Stillman College. The team will then host Tuskegee in a makeup match on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.