GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – The UVa-Wise women's tennis team was defeated 6-3 by Tusculum College on a soggy Saturday afternoon in Greeneville, Tennessee. Despite splitting singles matches with the host Pioneers (2-0), the visiting Cavaliers (6-5) were swept in doubles play and could not recover. UVa-Wise won matches at the No. 2, No. 5 and No. 6 singles positions.
 
The Cavs closest doubles match took place at the third spot where the freshmen duo of Aya Melhem (Rockvale, Tenn.) and Taylor Carter (Church Hill, Tenn.) were handed a 8-3 loss by Tusculum's Jule Brass and Brittani Brooks. The tandem of junior Daria Tyshchenko (Kirovograd, Ukraine) and senior Bailey Christoforatos (Fredericksburg, Va.) were upended 8-2 by the Pioneers' Franziska Funke and Katarina Majorova at the top doubles spot, while senior Marti Gay (Denton, Texas) and sophomore Mackenzie Lawson (Wise, Va.) were defeated by an identical score at No. 2 doubles against Sara Baker and Annie McCullough of Tusculum.
 
After Tyshchenko fell 6-1, 6-4 to the Pioneers' McCullough at No. 1 singles, Melhem earned a three-set win at the second singles spot over Tusculum's Brass. Avenging a rough 6-0 first-set loss, Melhem won the second set 6-2 before taking a hard-fought 10-point tiebreaker 13-11 to claim the victory. Both Christoforatos and Carter faltered in straight sets at the third and fourth positions as Brooks of Tusculum earned a 6-0, 6-3 win against Christoforatos at No. 3 singles and the Pioneers' Julia Lopez bested Carter 6-3, 6-0 at No. 4 singles.
 
Despite trailing 6-1 as a team, UVa-Wise did not go away quietly and won the final two singles matches of the day. Playing eight-game pro sets due to the length of the match and threat of more rain, Lawson downed Tusculum's Chrystal Pierce by a convincing score of 8-0 at sixth singles. At No. 5 singles, the Pioneers' Lyndsey Pulliam fought off 10 match points against Gay but could not save the 11th as Gay won 7-5 in a tiebreaker.
 
The Cavs continue play tomorrow before returning home, taking on Maryville College in Maryville, Tennessee, at 10 a.m. before facing Johnson University (Tenn.) at 3 p.m. in a neutral-site match.
 
Visit uvawisecavs.com for all Cavalier women's tennis news, statistics, complete schedule and more.
 
Full Match Results
Tusculum College 6, UVa-Wise 3
 
Singles
1. Annie McCullough (TC) def. Daria Tyshchenko (WISE) 6-1, 6-4
2. Aya Melhem (WISE) def. Jule Brass (TC) 0-6, 6-2, 1-0 (13-11)
3. Brittani Brooks (TC) def. Bailey Christoforatos (WISE) 6-0, 6-3
4. Julia Lopez (TC) def. Taylor Carter (WISE) 6-3, 6-0
5. Marti Gay (WISE) def. Lyndsey Pulliam (TC) 9-8 (7-5)
6. Mackenzie Lawson (WISE) def. Chrystal Pierce (TC) 8-0
 
Doubles
1. Franziska Funke/Katarina Majorova (TC) def. Daria Tyshchenko/Bailey Christoforatos (WISE) 8-2
2. Sara Baker/Annie McCullough (TC) def. Marti Gay/Mackenzie Lawson (WISE) 8-2
3. Jule Brass/Brittani Brooks (TC) def. Aya Melhem/Taylor Carter (WISE) 8-3