SPARTANBURG, S.C. – After their first loss of the season on Sunday at Elon, the USC Upstate women's tennis team rebounded with its most dominating win of the season, dropping just one complete set in a 6-1 win over Mercer in Atlantic Sun Conference action at the USC Upstate Tennis Complex on Saturday afternoon.

The Spartans (5-1 overall, 2-0 A-Sun) jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a doubles sweep, as freshmen Francisca Valderrama and Monica Pezzotti beat Jennifer Lada and Amalia Bugge, 8-2, at No. 1 and junior Emilia Milovanovic and freshman Simona Cacciuttolo downed Sarah Hanna and Stephanie Cohen, 8-2, at No. 3. At No. 2, sophomore Ana-Sofia Camberos and Cinthya Lazaro added an 8-6 win over Priscilla Dias and Anna Wieslander.

In singles play, the Spartans stayed strong, with Valderrama posting a 6-1, 6-3 win over Lada at No. 1 and Camberos adding a 6-0, 6-3 win over Hanna at No. 6. Cacciuttolo added a 6-1, 6-3 win over Dias at No. 3, clinching the win. After a withdrawal at No. 2 singles, Lazaro notched a 7-5, 6-2 win over Dias at No. 3 and Milovanovic posted her 10^th singles win of the season with a 6-4, 6-7, 10-6 win over Cohen to wrap up the match.

Lazaro with her doubles win, became the 16th player in school history to reach 50 career combined wins, having now posted a 29-10 singles mark and a 22-16 doubles record for 51 wins in her two seasons in the program. Milovanovic reached 10 singles wins for the third straight year after winning 13 as a freshman and 15 as a sophomore. She is the 10^th player in school history to reach the mark.

The Spartans head to Tennessee for a set of four matches next weekend, starting with a match at Tennessee Tech on Thursday at 2 p.m. CT, before a pair of A-Sun matches at Belmont on Friday and at Lipscomb on Saturday. The Spartans wrap up the stretch with a match against Murray State at Lipscomb on Saturday afternoon.

Women's Tennis Match Results
USC Upstate 6, Mercer University 1
Singles competition
1. Francisca Valderrama (UPSTW) def. Jennifer Lada (MER) 6-1, 6-3
2. Anna Wieslander (MER) def. Monica Pezzotti (UPSTW) 3-6, 1-0, retired
3. Simona Cacciuttolo (UPSTW) def. Priscilla Dias (MER) 6-1, 6-3
4. Cinthya Lazaro (UPSTW) def. Amalia Bugge (MER) 7-5, 6-2
5. Emilia Milovanovic (UPSTW) def. Stephanie Cohen (MER) 6-3, 6-7, 1-0 (10-6)
6. Ana-Sofia Camberos (UPSTW) def. Sarah Hanna (MER) 6-0, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Francisca Valderrama/Monica Pezzotti (UPSTW) def. Jennifer Lada/Amalia Bugge (MER) 8-2
2. Ana-Sofia Camberos/Cinthya Lazaro (UPSTW) def. Priscilla Dias/Anna Wieslander (MER) 8-6
3. Emilia Milovanovic/Simona Cacciuttolo (UPSTW) def. Sarah Hanna/Stephanie Cohen (MER) 8-2
Match Notes:
Mercer University 3-2, 0-1 A-Sun
USC Upstate 5-1, 2-0 A-Sun
T-3:58  A-89