Tennis Wins Six in Final Tournament of Fall Season

CHARLESTON, S.C. — The Marshall tennis team closed its fall tournament campaign by breaking multiple individual fall season records at the CofC Classic.

Victoria Walter tied Rachael Morales' mark of most singles wins by a freshman during a fall campaign (nine). Walter went 1-2 on the weekend playing in the top two spots and defeated Coastal Carolina's Viktorija Demcenkova in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. Walter's two losses came against Samford's Natalia De Ugarte (6-4, 6-4), who was an all-conference selection at WKU before transferring, and College of Charleston's Eva Nyikos (6-1, 6-3).

Madi Ballow and Liz Stefancic each won a singles match over the weekend for the Herd. Ballow defeated Clara Errard of the host institution College of Charleston, 6-4, 7-5, while Stefancic won in straight sets over Coastal Carolina's Maria Khomchenko, 6-1, 6-4. Ballow and Stefancic each finished with six singles wins during the fall season, a mark that is tied for eighth-most for a Marshall freshman over the last ten seasons (Daniela Dankanych, 2016).

Anna Smith led the Herd overall during the weekend with a pair of singles wins. Smith defeated Samford's Grace Jennings in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6 (3), then came back from down a set to defeat Lily LaBiche of the College of Charleston in a tiebreaker, 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-4), on the final day of the tournament. Smith finished the fall season with seven wins, a five-win improvement from her 2017 fall season.

Marshall's lone doubles win of the tournament came in the opening session, as Smith and Ballow defeated Coastal Carolina's Jessie Mount and Alicja Zduniak, 6-3. The Herd dropped its remaining five doubles matches and failed to win more than two games in any of the matches.

RESULTS
Doubles vs. Coastal Carolina
Anna Smith/Madi Ballow (Marshall) def. Jessie Mount/Alicja Zduniak (Coastal Carolina); 6-3
Jennifer Brown/Somer Dalla-Bona (Coastal Carolina) def. Victoria Walter/Liz Stefancic (Marshall); 6-1

Singles vs. Winthrop/Coastal Carolina
Alisa Soloveva (Winthrop) def. Anna Smith (Marshall); 6-2, 6-3
Victoria Walter (Marshall) def. Viktorija Demcenkova (Coastal Carolina); 6-3, 6-3
Somer Dalla-Bona (Coastal Carolina) def. Madi Ballow (Marshall); 6-2, 6-1

Doubles vs. Samford
Natalia De Ugarte/Elsa Pool (Samford) def. Anna Smith/Liz Stefancic (Marshall); 6-2
Grace Jennings/Mary Kathrine Lewis (Samford) def. Victoria Walter/Madi Ballow (Marshall); 6-0

Singles vs. Samford
Anna Smith (Marshall) def. Grace Jennings (Samford); 6-3, 7-6 (3)
Natalia De Ugarte (Samford) def. Victoria Walter (Marshall); 6-4, 6-4
Arianna Beltrame (Samford) def. Madi Ballow (Marshall); 2-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-6)
Mary Kathrine Lewis (Samford) def. Liz Stefancic (Marshall); 6-7 (3), 6-2, 1-0 (10-6)

Doubles vs. College of Charleston
Eva Nyikos/Anastasia Palaska (C of C) def. Anna Smith/Madi Ballow (Marshall); 6-1
Turner Yates/Clara Errard (C of C) def. Victoria Walter/Liz Stefancic (Marshall); 6-1

Singles vs. College of Charleston/Coastal Carolina
Eva Nyikos (C of C) def. Victoria Walter (Marshall); 6-1, 6-3
Anna Smith (Marshall) def. Lily LaBiche (C of C); 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-4)
Madi Ballow (Marshall) def. Clara Errard (C of C); 6-4, 7-5
Liz Stefancic (Marshall) def. Maria Khomchenko (Coastal Carolina); 6-1, 6-4

Marshall's next action will come during the spring dual match season. The Herd opens the spring at SEC opponent Kentucky on Jan. 16, with first serve scheduled for 11 a.m.

For the latest information on Marshall women's tennis, follow on Twitter at @Herd_Tennis, on Facebook at Herd Tennis and online at HerdZone.com.

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Tennis Wins Six in Final Tournament of Fall Season

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Players Mentioned

Madi Ballow

Anna Smith

Liz Stefancic

Victoria Walter

Marshall University Athletics