WISE, Va. – The UVa-Wise women's tennis team picked up its first Mountain East Conference win of the young season Saturday in Wise as the Cavaliers (2-4, 1-2 MEC) took down visiting Shepherd, 8-1.
 
After suffering a narrow, 5-4 non-conference loss to Milligan College at home Wednesday, the Cavs rebounded with a dominant victory over the Rams (1-3, 0-2 MEC) for their first conference win of the season.
 
Taking all three doubles matches, the Cavs sprung out to a 3-0 lead. The No. 1 doubles tandem of sophomore Daria Tyshchenko and junior Bailey Christoforatos, and the No. 2 doubles duo of sophomore Marti Gay and freshman Mackenzie Lawson each won their matches by a score of 8-3. At the third doubles spot Shepherd showed a little more resistance as seniors Haley Thacker and Junetta Nuckels claimed an 8-6 victory over Shepherd's Mackenzie Littleton and Anna Bock.
 
Tyshchenko improved her No. 1 singles record to 4-2 on the season and earned her third match victory in a row, defeating the Rams' Molly Lovern 6-3, 6-1.
 
At No. 2 singles Christoforatos won by an identical score of 6-3, 6-1 over Shepherd's Alisha Adkins.
 
The largest margins of victory came at No. 5 and No. 3 singles as Lawson took down Nicolette Bruley of Shepherd at the fifth spot without dropping a game (6-0, 6-0), while Thacker only lost two games at the third position to claim a 6-1, 6-1 victory over the Rams' Littleton and clinch the match for the Cavs.
 
At No. 6 singles Nuckels was a 6-1, 6-2 winner against Shepherd's Bock. The Rams lone match victory came at No. 4 singles as Zoie O'Neal of Shepherd defeated the Cavs' Gay in a third-set tiebreaker, 6-3, 3-6, (10-2).
 
"The victory was a total team effort", Head Coach Danny Rowland commented about the match. "We changed a couple of our doubles teams around and all three teams played well and got us off to a good start in the match."
 
Tomorrow the Cavs will finish off their four-game homestand by taking on MEC foe Fairmont State for a morning match at 9 a.m.
 
Fairmont State was picked seventh in the MEC preseason poll and entered this weekend after suffering a 5-4 home loss to NCAA Division III Washington & Jefferson this past Wednesday.
 
"We are looking forward to trying to get back to a .500 record in conference play with the match tomorrow", Coach Rowland added. "We are also hoping the weather holds off with the rain so we can get the match in."
 
Following Sunday's match the Cavs will have a six-day break before traveling to West Liberty, West Virginia, Saturday, Sept. 26, to take on West Liberty for UVa-Wise's second MEC road match of the season.
 
Visit uvawisecavs.com for all Cavalier women's tennis news, statistics, complete schedule and more.
 
Full Match Results
UVa-Wise 8, Shepherd University 1
 
Singles
1. Daria Tyshchenko (WISE) def. Molly Lovern (SU) 6-3, 6-1
2. Bailey Christoforatos (WISE) def. Alisha Adkins (SU) 6-3, 6-1
3. Haley Thacker (WISE) def. Mackenzie Littleton (SU) 6-1, 6-1
4. Zoie O'Neal (SU) def. Marti Gay (WISE) 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (10-2)
5. Mackenzie Lawson (WISE) def. Nicolette Bruley (SU) 6-0, 6-0
6. Junetta Nuckels (WISE) def. Anna Bock (SU) 6-1, 6-2
 
Doubles
1. Daria Tyshchenko/B. Christoforatos (WISE) def. Nicolette Bruley/Alisha Adkins (SU) 8-3
2. Marti Gay/Mackenzie Lawson (WISE) def. Zoie O'Neal/Molly Lovern (SU) 8-3
3. Haley Thacker/Junetta Nuckels (WISE) def. Mackenzie Littleton/Anna Bock (SU) 8-6