SALISBURY, N.C. - Playing on consecutive days for the first time this season, The Lady Indians of Newberry College gave a valiant effort but fell nonetheless to Catawba College, 5-4. The loss ends Newberry's (2-10, 1-4 SAC) North Carolina road trip on a sour note, although Coach Juan Pablo Favero's team does return to the Palmetto State with its first South Atlantic Conference victory of 2008, having bested Lenoir-Rhyne College on Tuesday.
The match opened with the closest contest of the afternoon, as Catawba's KT Redabow and Nikiah Knox edged Autise Mortimer (Nassau, Bahamas) and Chanelle Clare (Nassau, Bahamas) in a tiebreak, 9-8. The extra-frames loss would loom large for Newberry down the stretch.
The Scarlet & Gray got on the board in No. 2 doubles, as Bethany Poppe (Califon, N.J.) and Lauren Hartley (Beamsville, Ontario, Canada) downed Julia McKinzie and Meri Cartmill 8-6, but Catawba came back with a win in third-flight pairs, as Jennifer Dameron and Vanessa Silva beat Kelly Cheesborough (Harlem, Ga.) and Danielle Beckerle (St. Louis, Mo.), 8-3.
As has been the case over the past month, the top half of Newberry's singles line-up was not shaken by the doubles deficit and put the Lady Indians in a position to claim victory. Playing in the top flight for the third match in a row, Hartley took down McKinzie, 6-1, 7-5, for her sixth consecutive singles win. Mortimer put Newberry ahead with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Redabow, and Clare stretched the margin to 4-2 by locking down Cartmill, 6-4, 6-4.
The Lady Indians could not hold on to their lead in the bottom half of the draw. Catawba's Knox won perhaps the most important point of the afternoon, narrowly beating Poppe, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2. Silva retied the match with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Beckerle, and Dameron clinched the Catawba victory with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Brittany Grooms (Sumter, S.C.).
The Lady Indians return home to face Carson-Newman College on Friday. The match, which starts at 2 p.m., will be the final match at the Cannon Tennis Courts for seniors Hartley, Poppe, Beckerle, and Clare.
