Feb. 12, 2006

Evanston, Ill. - The 59th ranked Furman women's tennis team fell to 2-4 after dropping two matches over the weekend. On Saturday night 8th ranked Northwestern downed the Lady Paladins 4-0, while 53rd ranked Alabama shut out Furman 7-0 on Sunday.

In the Saturday match against Northwestern, the Lady Paladins fell behind early after dropping all three doubles matches. Entering singles play with a 1-0 lead, Northwestern won the first three singles matches in straight sets to take a quick 4-0 lead and secure the victory. The remaining matches were not finished due to time.

Sunday's match against Alabama turned out to be the same story for the Lady Paladins. Furman's duo of Jacqueline Eckert and Natasa Manojlovic picked up a win in their flight three doubles match over Andrea Brenes and Shelly Godwin 8-3 but this wasn't enough as Alabama picked up wins in flights one and two. After dropping the doubles point, Furman lost the first four singles matches in straight sets to give Alabama a victory on the day. Shannon Moore and Bonnie Baird split sets in their singles matches, but ended up falling in super-tiebreakers to make the final score 7-0.

Furman travels to Clemson, SC next Saturday for a 11:00 AM match before heading on a three match road trip to California.

#8 Northwestern 4, #59 Furman 0

Doubles

1. #8 Grier/Prousis (NU) def. #39 Gioia/Morris (FU) 8-4

2. Esseghir/Peisel (NU) def. Moore/Osborne (FU) 8-7 (7-5)

3. Conill/Rose (NU) def. Eckert/Manojlovic (FU) 8-1

Singles

1. Georgia Rose (NU) def. Laura Gioia (FU) 6-1, 6-3

2. #23 Cristelle Grier (NU) leads Marti Morris (FU) 6-4, 5-3 DNF

3. #12 Alexis Prousis (NU) def. Lauren Osborne (FU) 6-2, 6-4

4. Jamie Peisel (NU) leads Shannon Moore (FU) 6-1, 5-3 DNF

5. Feriel Esseghir (NU) leads Bonnie Baird (FU) 6-1, 5-4 DNF

6. Alexis Conill (NU) def. Natasa Manojlovic (FU) 6-2, 6-1

#53 Alabama 7, #59 Furman 0

Doubles

1. #15 Stephenson/Bentley (BAMA) def. #39 Gioia/Morris (FU) 8-1

2. #44 Muller/Day (BAMA) def. Moore/Osborne (FU) 8-6

3. Eckert/Manojlovic (FU) def. Brenes/Godwin (BAMA) 8-3

Singles

1. #13 Robin Stephenson (BAMA) def. Laura Gioia 6-0, 6-0

2. Ashley Bentley (BAMA) def. Marti Morris 6-1, 6-1

3. Mari Muller (BAMA) def. Lauren Osborne 7-5, 6-0

4. Melissa Day (BAMA) def. Shannon Moore 3-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-4)

5. Andrea Brenes (BAMA) def. Bonnie Baird 6-7, 6-1, 1-0 (10-6)

6. Shelly Godwin (BAMA) def. Natasa Marojlovic 6-1, 6-1