Orlando, FL - Typically, the final day of a road trip is considered a getaway day. The idea is to have a nice, easy day and head home. Centre got the exact opposite in its Florida finale as the Colonels needed 4 singles tiebreaks to come away with a 5-2 win over Union (NY) College.
Before the singles excitement, the Colonels took to the court and doubles and dominated. In her only match of the day,
Grace Williams teamed up with
Carlie Mitchell in #1 doubles and rolled to a 6-2 win.
Natalie Black and
Karenna Thurman clinched the team point in #3 doubles with a 6-3 win. For good measure,
Olivia Watson and
Kennedy Herring completed a Colonel sweep with a 6-4 win in #2 doubles as Centre took a 1-0 overall lead to singles.
Union won the first singles match as
Olivia Watson fell in the #2 spot, 2-6, 1-6. The next result went Centre's way thanks to a dominant 6-4, 6-0 win from
Shelby Franklin in #5 singles. The remaining four matches all needed tiebreaks.
Kennedy Herring was the first to need extra time. She lost the first set, 2-6, before coming back with a 7-5 win in the second to force the tiebreak. The action went back-and-forth but Herring was able to prevail, 10-8, and give the Colonels a 3-1 lead on the day. Union cut it to 3-2 thanks to a 3-set win in #3 singles as
Carlie Mitchell came up short, 6-10, in the break.
Sara Dunn was the next to needed extended time in #6 singles. She cruised to a 6-2 win in her first set but fell 4-6 in the second. The third was ultimately handled by Dunn in a 10-6 win to clinch the overall win for the Colonels.
The highlight of the day came in #4 singles as
Carrie Foster was locked in a marathon battle for the win. She won the first set 7-6 before dropping set 2, 2-6, to force another tiebreak. The players battled back and forth well beyond the usual 10-point threshold as neither could clinch the needed 2-point margin. The set needed 30 points but Foster was able to finally clinch it with a 16-14 win to close out the thrilling day.
Centre returns home and continues the SAA gauntlet on Saturday as top-15 ranked, Trinity, comes to Danville.
