FAIRMONT, W.Va. – The UVa-Wise women's tennis team earned a convincing 8-1 win at Mountain East Conference opponent Fairmont State University Saturday afternoon. The Cavaliers (3-3, 1-2 MEC) picked up their first league win of the season by sweeping the Fighting Falcons (3-5, 0-4 MEC) in doubles and taking five out of six singles matches.
 
The freshmen tandem of Aya Melhem (Rockvale, Tenn.) and Taylor Carter (Church Hill, Tenn.) got the Cavs going with an 8-1 No. 2 doubles win over Fairmont State's Janay Beamer and Geena Lammertin. The duo of juniors Marti Gay (Denton, Texas) and Serena Burgess (Dumfries, Va.) then earned an 8-5 win against Mollee Brown and Emily Hart of Fairmont State at third doubles, before senior Bailey Christoforatos (Fredericksburg, Va.) and junior Daria Tyshchenko (Kirovograd, Ukraine) took down the Fighting Falcons' Trinite' Klamadji and Hayley Hatfield 8-4 at the top doubles spot.
 
Leading 3-0, UVa-Wise got five consecutive straight-set singles wins. Melhem was the first off the court at No. 2 singles where she defeated Hatfield of Fairmont State, 6-1, 6-1. Carter improved her singles record to 6-0 on the season at the fourth position with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over the Fighting Falcons' Lammertin. At No. 3 singles, Christoforatos had the best score of the day with her 6-0, 6-1 rout of Fairmont State's Brown.
 
Gay earned a 7-5, 6-1 win at fifth singles when she topped Beamer of Fairmont State, giving UVa-Wise a 7-0 lead in the match. At No. 6 singles, freshman Carlysle Funk (Coeburn, Va.) earned her first career singles victory as she defeated the Fighting Falcons' Kate Lauerman by a score of 6-3, 6-2.
 
UVa-Wise's lone loss came at the top singles spot where Tyshchenko played a competitive, high-level match against Fairmont State's Klamadji. Dropping the first set, 6-1, Tyshchenko worked her way back into the match by taking Klamadji to a second-set tiebreak. Tyshchenko won the tiebreaker 8-6, evening the match at a set apiece and forcing a third set. With the match already decided, the third set was played as a 10-point tiebreaker. Tyshchenko came up just shy of a win as Klamadji earned a 10-8 victory in the tiebreak.
 
The Cavs finish up their weekend road trip tomorrow morning when they take on Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, at 10 a.m.
 
Visit uvawisecavs.com for all Cavalier women's tennis news, statistics, complete schedule and more.
 
Full Match Results
UVa-Wise 8, Fairmont State University 1
Singles
 
1. Trinite' Klamadji (FSU) def. Daria Tyshchenko (WISE) 6-1, 6-7 (6-8), 1-0 (10-8)
2. Aya Melhem (WISE) def. Hayley Hatfield (FSU) 6-1, 6-1
3. Bailey Christoforatos (WISE) def. Mollee Brown (FSU) 6-0, 6-1
4. Taylor Carter (WISE) def. Geena Lammertin (FSU) 6-1, 6-2
5. Marti Gay (WISE) def. Janay Beamer (FSU) 7-5, 6-1
6. Carlysle Funk (WISE) def. Kate Lauerman (FSU) 6-3, 6-2
 
Doubles
1. Bailey Christoforatos/Daria Tyshchenko (WISE) def. Trinite' Klamadji/Hayley Hatfield (FSU) 8-4
2. Aya Melhem/Taylor Carter (WISE) def. Janay Beamer/Geena Lammertin (FSU) 8-1
3. Marti Gay/Serena Burgess (WISE) def. Mollee Brown/Emily Hart (FSU) 8-5