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No. 15 Women's Tennis beats NCAA II power Clayton State, 5-4
By Matt Green
MORROW, Ga. -- Candice Laurent won a three-set marathon at No. 1 singles to send the 15th-ranked Shorter University women's tennis team to a 5-4 victory over Clayton State in non-league tennis action on Tuesday in Morrow, Ga.
Laurent defeated Clayton State's Ivana Krommelova 6-2, 6-7 (7-3), 7-5 to score the match's deciding point and help the Lady Hawks improve to 2-1 on the season.
Shorter's Iesha Holton also scored a three-set victory at No. 4 singles, topping Martina Dedaj 6-4, 6-7 (0-7), 6-3 to record one of Shorter's three singles victories. Alicia Gallard won at No. 6 singles (6-1, 6-4) over Alyze' Pagal.
The Lady Hawks won at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles to take a 2-1 lead into singles competition. Laurent teamed up with Aurelie Gaborit for an 8-5 win at No. 1 while Gallard and Margot Vetter captured an 8-2 victory at No. 3.
Clayton State is the No. 7-ranked team in NCAA Division II and is coming off of an 18-8 campaign in 2011 in which the Lakers advanced all the way to the NCAA Division II Final Four. Clayton State returned five quality players from that Final Four squad.
Shorter returns home on Thursday, Feb. 9 for a home match with the College of Coastal Georgia at 2 pm.
#15 SHORTER 5, CLAYTON STATE 4
Doubles:
1: Candice Laurent / Aurelie Gaborit (SU) d. Ivana Krommelova / Marie Cercelletti, 8-5
2: Hannah Keeling / Martina Dedaj (CLS) d. Aurore Beltrando / Iesha Holton, 8-3
3: Alicia Gallard / Margot Vetter (SU) d. Charlotte Fabricius / Alyze' Pagal, 8-2
Singles:
1: Laurent (SU) d. Krommelova, 6-2, 6-7 (7-3), 7-5
2: Cercelletti (CLS) d. Beltrando, 6-1, 6-2
3: Keeling (CLS) d. Gaborit, 6-1, 6-2
4: Holton (SU) d. Dedaj, 6-4, 6-7 (0-7), 6-3
5: Fabricius (CLS) d. Vetter, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4
6: Gallard (SU) d. Pagal, 6-1, 6-4
