CHARLESTON, W.Va. – UVa-Wise women's tennis dropped a 5-4 heartbreaker Saturday afternoon at the University of Charleston. Playing on the road against last year's Mountain East Conference runner up, the Cavaliers showed much grit as they nearly pulled off the upset.
 
Charleston (3-0, 3-0 MEC), who finished last season ranked sixth in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Atlantic Region, was able to take a 2-1 lead on the visiting Cavaliers (5-4, 2-3 MEC) after doubles play and claim three out of six singles matches for the team win. However, UVa-Wise did not go away quietly and pulled off three three-set singles wins.
 
The doubles team of Kristine Gegeshidze and Elise Edwards picked up the first match victory for the Golden Eagles at the second spot when they earned a 8-0 win over junior Marti Gay (Denton, Texas) and sophomore Mackenzie Lawson (Wise, Va.). The Cavs responded at third doubles as the freshmen tandem of Aya Melhem (Rockvale, Tenn.) and Taylor Carter (Church Hill, Tenn.) took down Charleston's Jackie Bakos and Taylor Youell by a score of 8-5. The top doubles match went the way of the Golden Eagles when Toni Katipa and Silvana Slusarciuc defeated junior Daria Tyshchenko (Kirovograd, Ukraine) and senior Bailey Christoforatos (Fredericksburg, Va.), 8-4.
 
In singles play, Charleston grabbed three straight-set wins at No. 4, No. 3 and No. 1 positions. Carter was handed her first singles loss of the season (6-1, 6-0) by the Golden Eagles' Slusarciuc at the fourth spot, before Charleston's Katipa defeated Christoforatos 6-1, 6-3 at No. 3 singles. Katipa ended last season ranked No. 15 in the ITA Atlantic Region. Gegeshidze clinched the team win for Charleston when she was able to top Tyshchenko 6-3, 6-4 at the top singles flight.
 
Lawson, Melhem and Gay each rebounded from first-set losses to upend their opponents in three sets. At No. 6 singles, Lawson remained undefeated on the year with a 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 rout of the Golden Eagles' Bridget Dillon. Melhem perhaps had the best comeback of the day when she rallied from a 6-3, 3-0 deficit at No. 2 singles. The freshman won the second set in a tiebreaker at 8-6 before a 10-point tiebreak was played in lieu of a third set due to the team match already decided, in which Melhem won 10-8. Gay also won in dramatic fashion at No. 5 singles. After dropping the first set 6-3, Gay stormed back to take the second set, 6-1. Tied at six games apiece in the third and final set, Gay found herself down 3-0 in the tiebreaker before coming back to win it at 7-5.
 
The Cavs remain on the road Sunday when they take on Concord University in Athens, West Virginia, at 2 p.m. The men's team will also take on the Mountain Lions but will be playing the match as a non-conference contest since it is not the men's championship season.
 
Visit uvawisecavs.com for all Cavalier women's tennis news, statistics, complete schedule and more.
 
Full Match Results
Charleston 5, UVa-Wise 4
 
Singles
1. Kristine Gegeshidze (UC) def. Daria Tyshchenko (WISE) 6-3, 6-4
2. Aya Melhem (WISE) def. Elise Edwards (UC) 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 1-0 (10-8)
3. Toni Katipa (UC) def. Bailey Christoforatos (WISE) 6-1, 6-3
4. Silvana Slusarciuc (UC) def. Taylor Carter (WISE) 6-1, 6-0
5. Marti Gay (WISE) def. Taylor Youell (UC) 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5)
6. Mackenzie Lawson (WISE) def. Bridget Dillon (UC) 3-6, 6-0, 6-3
 
Doubles
1. Toni Katipa/Silvana Slusarciuc (UC) def. Daria Tyshchenko/Bailey Christoforatos (WISE) 8-4
2. Kristine Gegeshidze/Elise Edwards (UC) def. Marti Gay/Mackenzie Lawson (WISE) 8-0
3. Aya Melhem/Taylor Carter (WISE) def. Jackie Bakos/Taylor Youell (UC) 8-5