CHARLESTON, S.C. - Charleston Southern opened up Big South Conference play with a 6-1 win over Longwood on Friday afternoon at the Buccaneer Tennis Complex.

The Bucs (3-3, 1-0) took two of the three doubles matches and five of the six singles decision on their way to recording the conference win over the Lancers (2-1, 0-1).

CSU opened play with Yana Morar and Kimberley Koerner topping Tanja Skalda and Julia Candiotto on court no. 3, 6-2. Yulia Almiron and Kaori Terunuma evened the match on court no. 2 with a 6-4 win over the CSU duo of Valeria Koussenkov and Filippa Ericson.

Sophie Cloessner and Madalina Man concluded play shortly after on court no. 1 with a 6-4 win over Longwood's Jamie Breunig and Marija Venta to give the Buccaneers the 1-0 lead.

Koerner was the first off the courts in singles play as the junior athlete topped Candiotto, 6-0, 6-0. Koussenkova followed shortly after with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Almiron on court no. 2. Man secured the team win on court no. 4 with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Terunuma.

Cloessner followed with the Bucs' fifth point of the match with a straight-set win over Venta on court no. 5, 6-1, 6-3. Ericson followed with a 7-6, 6-3 win over Breunig on court no. 3, 7-6, 6-3.

Skalda picked up the Lancers' lone win on court no. 6 with a three-set victory over Morar. Skalda took the opening frame, 7-5, while Morar followed up with a 6-3 win in the second set. Skalda won the tiebreaker, 10-6.

Box Score
Charleston Southern 6, Longwood 1
Singles competition
1. CLOESSNER, Sophie (CSU-W) def. VENTA, Marija (LWUW) 6-1, 6-3
2. KOUSSENKOVA, Valeria (CSU-W) def. ALMIRON, Yulia (LWUW) 6-1, 6-2
3. ERICSON, Filippa (CSU-W) def. BREUNIG, Jamie (LWUW) 7-6, 6-3
4. MAN, Madalina (CSU-W) def. TERUNUMA, Kaori (LWUW) 6-3, 6-1
5. KOERNER, Kimberley (CSU-W) def. CANDIOTTO, Julia (LWUW) 6-0, 6-0
6. SKALDA, Tanja (LWUW) def. MORAR, Yana (CSU-W) 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 (10-6)

Doubles competition
1. CLOESSNER, Sophie/MAN, Madalina (CSU-W) def. BREUNIG, Jamie/VENTA, Marija (LWUW) 6-4
2. ALMIRON, Yulia/TERUNUMA, Kaori (LWUW) def. KOUSSENKOVA, Valeria/ERICSON, Filippa (CSU-W) 6-4
3. MORAR, Yana/KOERNER, Kimberley (CSU-W) def. SKALDA, Tanja/CANDIOTTO, Julia (LWUW) 6-2

Match Notes
Longwood 2-1, 0-1
Charleston Southern 3-3, 1-0
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (5,2,4,1,3,6)
T-3:01 A-43

News & Notes

• Four different CSU players recorded their third singles wins of the season as Cloessner, Ericson, Koerner, and Koussenkova all picked up their third victories in 2018 dual match play.
• The Bucs' win over the Lancers was CSU's 14th consecutive win at the Buccaneer Tennis Complex dating back to the 2016 season.

Postmatch Comments

Up Next
Charleston Southern faces a quick turnaround as the Bucs host Savannah State tomorrow morning at the Buccaneer Tennis Complex with first serve set for 11 a.m.