Winthrop Claims Second Straight Big South Title

ROCK HILL, SC-- Top-seeded Winthrop defeated third-seeded Charleston Southern 4-0 to capture the 2009 Big South Conference Women’s Tennis Championship Saturday afternoon at Memorial Courts on the campus of Winthrop University.

It is the second straight conference tournament championship for Winthrop and the seventh in the last eight years. It was the first championship appearance for Charleston Southern since 2001.

The Lady Eagles are now 12-3 all-time in the finals of the conference tournament.

Winthrop got off to a good start by capturing the doubles point. Charleston Southern won the first doubles match as Marija Dzakovic and Olga Makhova easily handled Sandra Herrera and Lisa Wilkinson 8-2 at No. 2. The All-Conference No. 1 doubles duo of Patricia Coimbra and Elizaveta Zaytseva evened things up with an 8-3 victory over Angie Torres and Andrea Schutte. That meant the doubles point came down to No. 3 doubles and Winthrop’s Paula Pereira and Sara Abutovic came through with an 8-5 victory over Brooke Pletcher and Leonie Mandelkow. 

The momentum for Winthrop carried over to the singles matches as Wilkinson gave Winthrop a quick 2-0 lead as she defeated Torres 6-1, 6-1 at No. 5. Winthrop went up 3-0 when Zaytseva upset Makhova, the 2009 Freshman and Player of the Year, at No. 1 singles, 6-0, 6-1. It was the first loss against a conference opponent for Makhova. The match and championship were clinched as Coimbra finished off her match at No. 2 singles against Andrea Schutte, 6-1, 6-1.

With the win, Winthrop improves to 14-8 overall and earns the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Charleston Southern Lady Bucs end their season 7-10.

Doubles

No. 1 – Coimbra/Zaytseva (WU) def. Torres/Schutte, 8-3

No. 2 – Dzakovic/Makhova (CSU) def. Hererra/Wilkinson (WU), 8-2

No. 3 – Abutovic/Pereira (WU) def. Pletcher/Mandelkow (CSU), 8-5

Singles

No. 1 – Elizaveta Zaytseva (WU) def. Olga Makhova (CSU), 6-0, 6-1

No. 2 – Patricia Coimbra (WU) def. Andrea Schutte (CSU), 6-1, 6-1

No. 3 – Sandra Herrera (WU) led Brooke Pletcher (CSU), 7-6 (3), 1-0, unfinished

No. 4 – Majrija Dzakovic (CSU) led Sara Abutovic (WU), 6-4, 4-1, unfinished

No. 5 – Lisa Wilkinson (WU) def. Angie Torres (CSU), 6-1, 6-1

No. 6 – Paula Pereira (WU) led Leonie Mandelkow (CSU), 6-2, 3-2, unfinished