SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The USC Upstate women's tennis team went 1-1 on Saturday afternoon with a 6-1 victory over North Greenville and 7-0 setback to Charlotte at the USC Upstate Tennis Complex.
 
USC Upstate (1-7) got off to a fast start winning the doubles point at both the No. 2 and No. 3 singles courts. The doubles wins were a little extra special as Morgan Valentine, Laura Illanes and Taylor Morneault all picked up their first doubles victory in a Spartan uniform. For Morneault it was the first match of her college career.
 
Carrying an elusive 1-0 lead into the singles portion of the match the Spartans looked poised for big day. Although No. 1 singles player Elin Hellberg lost a tough three-set match, her teammates picked her up and won in straight sets. Gabriela Cevallos picked up her first win at the No.2 singles flight and improved to 2-5 on the season, Maria Jardim won at No. 3 singles and is now 2-0 since moving to the No.3 singles court.
 
Morgan Valentine, Roberta Armani and Laura Illanes all beat their opponents 6-0, 6-0. As Valentine improved to 2-2 at No.4 singles and Armani and Illanes each picked up their first career victories in singles action.
 
The second match of the day was against a very tough Charlotte squad that was coming off a close loss to No. 1 North Carolina a week ago. Although the Spartans were swept 7-0 they stayed competitive throughout the match.
 
USC Upstate will be back in action on Tuesday, February 25 at East Tennessee State University. For more information on the USC Upstate tennis team log onto upstatespartans.com today.
 
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