BLACKSBURG, Va. –
Themis Haliou improved to 3-1 at No. 1 singles and Towson also got singles victories from
Sarah Pospischill and
Jessica Assenmacher, but it was not enough as the Tigers dropped a tight 4-3 decision to Radford Friday afternoon to kickoff a three match in three-day stretch on the road.
The match was played the Burrows-Burleson
Tennis Center, home of
Virginia Tech's tennis teams, because of a winter storm warning in southwest Virginia.
Radford earned the doubles point by sweeping all three matches. Two of the three sets were close with Haliou and
Alexa Martinez losing 6-4
at No. 1 and
Amelia Lawson and
Lauryn Jacobs dropping a 7-5 set at No. 3.
"The doubles didn't help us today," Towson head coach
Jamie Peterson said. "We had a set point in one of them but we couldn't convert."
Pospischill tied the match at one win apiece with a 6-1, 6-3 victory at No. 5 singles. The sophomore from Austria is now 2-2 in singles this season. Trailing 3-1 on the scoreboard, Assenmacher won at No. 6 singles for the second consecutive match, improving to 2-0 at that position in the lineup.
"Jess did not play her best in doubles but she was able to turn things around," Peterson added. "Sometimes when you lose the doubles point like we did it can wipe the team down. I was proud of how the girls fought. Both Jess and Sarah got off to fast starts and we able to close out in the second set. Those two wins are really good signs for us."
Martinez led 5-4 in the first set at No. 3, but Radford's Salma Loudili won the last three games of the opening set then took the second 6-3 to clinch the match.
Haliou lost the opening set to Melissa Ifidzhen 7-5, but roared back to take the next two sets, 6-1, 6-1. The junior has won three consecutive matches.
"It is truly a pleasure to watch Themis play right now," Peterson said. "She is doing all the right things. She is playing with great energy. She is playing smart. She is just doing all the right things."
Towson (1-3) earned its first victory of the 2021 season by shutting out Delaware State last weekend at Coppermine Racquet & Fitness in Pikesville. The Tigers won 15 of 16 sets during the match.
Records:
- Towson – 1-3 (0-1 CAA)
- Radford – 2-0
Doubles Results (Radford earned the point):
Singles Results:
Postgame Quote:
Towson head coach
Jamie Peterson: "We had some opportunities. Radford is a very solid team. The made it to the finals of the Big South championship the last time it was held. They were 9-3 last year. I told the girls this was a 50-50 match. It was whoever did those little things and they did that today. I don't believe they are a better team than us. It is a very tough loss to take. But we had a lots of positives, too."
Next Match:
Towson will head two and a half hours east to take on Longwood in Farmville, Va. tomorrow afternoon. Longwood has started the 2021 campaign with a pair of shutout losses to Liberty. In 2019-20, the Lancers went 7-3, dropping a 4-3 decision to Radford. Longwood leads the all-time series against Towson, 3-1. The Tigers won the last meeting in 2017.
– TowsonTigers.com –