Anderson, Erskine defend crowns

From staff reports

There were some pretenders to the throne, but when all was said and done on Sunday in the Conference Carolinas men’s and women’s tennis tournaments at the Palmetto Tennis Center, the Anderson University men and the Erskine College women still ruled the roost.

The Trojans won their sixth consecutive men’s tournament title by defeating Lees-McRae College 5-1, while Erskine won its fifth straight women’s crown by beating Mount Olive College 5-2.



Both teams earned a berth in their respective NCAA Division II national tournaments by winning the conference crowns.

The Anderson men, who are now 13-6 on the season, entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed after dropping a 5-4 decision to No. 1 seed Lees-McRae in the regular season. The Trojans rolled on Sunday, being led by tournament most valuable player Philip Pakenbush. Joining Pakenbush on the all-tournament team were Stephane Murray and Renaldo Asscuno.

Lees-McRae is 18-6 after having its 14-match winning streak snapped. The Bobcats’ Alex Mojski and Shaun Summer were also named to the all-tournament team along with Matt Jackman of Barton College and Miguel Lopez Zuniga of Limestone.

The Erskine women rallied from a 2-1 deficit in doubles to claim four singles matches to win the tournament. The Fleet finished the regular-season in a three-way tie for first place with Mount Olive and Lees-McRae, but was the No. 3 seed in the tournament after a coin toss.

Erskine, which is now 16-7 on the season, was led by tournament MVP Jourdan Smith. The freshman earned two points in singles and doubles in both the semifinals and finals for Erskine.

On Sunday Erskine also got singles wins from all-tourney performers Tessa Rheault and Britton Bignon, along with Mary Claire Rollins.

Mount Olive, which was the No. 1 seed, fell to 12-10. Carol Aro and Jessica Souza made the all-tournament team from Mount Olive along with Gabrieal Celi of Lees-McRae and Danja Drmac of Limestone.