CONWAY, Ark. -- The John Brown University women's tennis team picked up a pair of wins this weekend (Feb. 9-10), sweeping past Ozarks (Ark.) 9-0 before taking down Hendrix (Ark.) by a 5-2 score inside the Hatcher Tennis Center.
The wins improve the Golden Eagles to 4-0, its best start of the Mike Campbell era. John Brown hadn't dropped a single flight through three matches before still besting the host Warriors.
"This weekend was huge for the ladies," Campbell admitted. "Dropping only one singles and one doubles flight against a program like Hendrix is a fantastic showing. Couple that with another win over Ozarks, we played some great tennis this weekend. We fought hard, and I'm proud of the ladies and the results reflect their effort."
Against Ozarks (0-3), John Brown jumped out to a fast start by taking care of all three doubles flights. The top pairing of senior Lin Xin Tan and Abigail Woodring made quick work of Jessica Gayle and Kelsey Smith, 6-3. Shortly after, juniors Ellie Swan and Erin Kuykendall used a similar 6-2 win over Annie Nelligan and Erika Jones at court two to double the lead.
Seniors Caroline Hillock and Kyla Isaac completed the trifecta at the third flight, 7-5, over Ozarks' Gabriella Davis and Journey Pope.
JBU continued to cruise in singles play, highlighted by a shutout win from Hillock at the four spot over Kelsey Smith, 6-0, 6-0. After dropping the first set 6-2, Isaac battled back in the last action to finish on the day, using a 6-3 win in the second set to setup a 10-8 third set tiebreak over Pope to complete the sweep.
While John Brown faced a tougher task with the host Warriors (1-1), the Golden Eagles handed Hendrix its first loss of the season, again using strong doubles play.
Tan and Woodring outlasted Avery Stephens and Eleanor Burks at the top flight, 8-6, as did Hillock and Isaac versus Kate Adcox and Ayden Huckelbury at the third slot, handing JBU a 2-1 advantage before singles action.
Both duos of Tan and Woodring, and Hillock and Isaac improved to 3-0 this season.
The visitors quickly parlayed the early lead into a 4-1 advantage after Tan dismantled Burks on court one, 6-3, 6-1, and Kuykendall overcame a second-set tiebreak loss to defeat Stephens 10-8 in the third frame.
Hendrix narrowed the score to two, 4-2, before Hillock's 10-7 third-set win clinched the match for John Brown. Hendrix's Josie Leffingwell evened the match at one apiece in the second set after Hillock used a 6-3 win in the first for the early advantage.
JBU scored wins in two of three third-set tiebreaks.
The Golden Eagles return to the court on Friday morning (Feb. 16) when John Brown takes on Saint Mary (Kan.) at the Genesis Health Clubs – Clayview in Kansas City, Mo. at 8:30 a.m.
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