Bears Fall to No. 32 Furman

Thursday, April 8

Greenville, S.C.

3 p.m.

Mercer University

Furman

4/8/2021 6:21:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

Mercer back in action on Monday

By: Travis Rae

GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Mercer women's tennis team suffered a 7-0 setback to the 32^nd-ranked Furman Paladins in Greenville, S.C., on Thursday afternoon.

Furman improved to 18-6 overall and 6-0 in SoCon play, while the Bears fell to 6-7 on the year with a 0-3 record in Southern Conference matches.

The Bears' doubles team of Mary Courville and Lauren Rich suffered a 6-0 loss to the country's 16^th-ranked team of Katarina Kozarov and Julia Adams to begin the match. Kristin Yordanova and Alara Hollyfield (No. 2 doubles) and Leka Varudndi and Ericka Chavarria (No. 3 doubles) both lost by 6-1 scores as the Paladins swept the doubles matches.

To start singles play, Varudandi suffered a 6-1, 6-0 defeat in the fourth flight. Rich put up a solid fight on court three before falling in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1, as the Paladins extended their lead to 3-0. On the first two courts, Hollyfield and Courville faced tall tasks against Kozarov, the No. 7 singles player in the country and Adams, who is currently 77^th overall. Hollyfield took two games from Kozarov at No. 1 singles but fell as Kozarov clinched the match for Furman with a 6-2, 6-1 victory. At No. 2 singles, Courville nearly pulled off the upset in the first set, but Adams battled back for a 7-5 win before taking the match with a 6-2 win in the second set.

The final two singles matches were eight game pro sets. Furman's Pate topped Yordanova, 8-3 in the fifth flight, and despite taking two games, Ashley Popham lost, 8-3, in No. 6 singles..

How it Happened
SINGLES (Order: 4, 3, 1, 2, 5, 6)
1. #7 Katarina Kozarov def. Alara Hollyfield, 6-2, 6-1.
2. #77 Julia Adams def. Mary Courville, 7-5, 6-2
3. Madison Dillon def. Lauren Rich, 6-2, 6-1
4. MaryAnn Rompf def. Lekha Varudandi, 6-1, 6-0
5. Maggie Pate def. Kristin Yordanova, 8-3
6. Ellie Schoppe def. Ashley Popham, 8-3

DOUBLES (Order: 1, 2, 3)
1. #16 Katarina Kozarov/Julia Adams def. Mary Courville/Lauren Rich, 6-0
2. Madison Dillon/MaryAnn Rompf def. Kristin Yordanova/Alara Hollyfield, 6-1
3. Maggie Pate/Ellie Schoppe def. Lekha Varudandi/Ericka Chavarria, 6-1

Up Next
The Bears will return to action on Monday at 3 p.m. when they host Wofford in Southern Conference action at the LeRoy Peddy Tennis Center.

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