Important Wins for Lacrosse & Men's Tennis

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Behind two doubles and five singles wins the Presbyterian Blue Hose (14-9, Big South: 4-1) cruised past the UNC Asheville Bulldogs (8-10, Big South: 1-4), 6-1, to clinch a share of the Big South Conference regular season title. The Blue Hose have now won three Big South regular season titles (2014, 2017, 2023) in the program’s history.

“We found a way to get the win today,” Presbyterian coach John Collins said. “To claim a share of the Big South regular season title is massive for our team. The guys have worked really hard this season and to finish the regular season on a high note is huge for our program.”

DOUBLES

Presbyterian continues to begin matches strong after claiming the doubles point for the 16^th time this season with wins at number three and one doubles. At number three doubles, Presbyterian’s Teo Cariov and David Mamalat started the Blue Hose off on a good note with a 6-2 win. The doubles tandem of Dusan Milanovic and Max Benson, who are ranked No. 47 in the latest ITA doubles rankings, posted a 6-4 win at number one doubles clinching the doubles point for the Blue Hose. With the win, Benson and Milanovic recorded their 12^th win of the season.

SINGLES

Presbyterian won five singles matches to earn the overall victory. Mamalat tallied his sixth straight win with a 6-1, 6-2 victory at number six singles. UNC Asheville cut Presbyterian’s lead in half with a win at number two singles. At number one singles, Milanovic, who is ranked No. 62 in the ITA singles rankings, recorded his 10^th straight win and his 17^th of the season with a 7-6 (10-8), 6-3 win. At number four singles, Denim Yadav collected his fifth straight win and his 10^th of the season with a 6-4, 6-2 victory. At number three singles, Sebastian Dominguez picked up his third straight win and his ninth of the season with a 6-4, 6-3 victory. At number five singles, Javier Matos posted his 13^th straight win and his 16^th of the season with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 win to close out the Blue Hose’s victory.

NOTES

Currently, Presbyterian and Gardner-Webb share the Big South regular season title. If Campbell defeats Radford tomorrow, Campbell will also share the league’s regular season title.   

With the Blue Hose’s regular season title, Presbyterian Coach Collins is the first men’s tennis coach in Big South history to win a regular season championship with two different schools. He guided Winthrop to the 2018 Big South regular season title and now he has led the Blue Hose to a share of this year’s Big South regular season title.

The victory was Presbyterian’s sixth straight and the Blue Hose has won 10 of their last 12 matches.

UP NEXT
Presbyterian will play in the semifinals of the Big South Conference Championship on Friday, April 21 at Marion Diehl Park in Charlotte, N.C. The tournament bracket will be released at a later date.

Presbyterian 6, UNC Asheville 1

SINGLES

ROCK HILL, S.C. – On the verge of a teetering finish considering the trajectory of the game’s first 30 minutes and its wonky final moments, sophomore attacker Willow Hammond hoisted the Presbyterian College lacrosse team on her shoulders for an offensive performance of tremendous magnitude, allowing the Blue Hose to reach an 11-10 victory over Winthrop on Wednesday evening.

Simultaneously the program’s first ever triumph against the Eagles in 12 prior attempts and PC’s best Big South start in the 15-year history of the team (3-1), the visitors were able to withstand a late rally from their in-state rival primarily off the strength of Hammond, who accomplished a new first in her blooming career: six goals in a single outing.

Not even a four-score 4^th by the Eagles could engulf the distance established by the Blue Hose and Hammond’s smoldering stat line, maintaining Presbyterian’s status as a top-four unit in the league with five matchups left on the docket.

NOTABLES

- The third time in her collegiate tenure with at least four strikes in one affair (with all of them happening in 2023), Hammond’s six-time scoring sequence registered as the highest goal count in one day since Abby Edmisten’s seven versus Kent State in February of last year. The Georgia native becomes the first PC performer to hit 30 goals on the campaign following Wednesday’s blistering effort, encompassing the first four second-half scores by the Blue Hose that spanned 19 minutes of clock.

- It wasn’t just a one-woman show during a result that lands Presbyterian their highest overall win total since the program’s creation, as junior Kylie Sullivan was an instrumental piece in preserving the Blue Hose W thanks to her sixth multi-goal game of the spring and third time in the last four appearances netting a pair of goals.

- Sullivan provided the helper on what was arguably the game’s turning point with 13 ticks remaining in the 2^nd period, outlining an Olivia Staas cash-in that interrupted a 4-4 stalemate. Later on, the New Hampshire product was part of a 4^th-quarter trifecta of scores – along with Hammond and Mickey Paredes – whose late-game blows grew even larger in hindsight.

- The conference duel may have been carried by its offensive spurts, although a lengthy stretch of elite defensive play widened the cushion for head coach Eric Clakeley’s unit from the 2^nd period into the 3^rd, denying the Eagles a single score over 23 minutes and 30 seconds (nearly the length of two full frames). First-year keeper Lilly Phillips earned the W beside nine saves.

HOW IT HAPPENED

- All even at three with 15 minutes in the can, the Big South clash denoted the first time in 12 contests that Presbyterian found themselves in a tied scenario at the end of one, nearly finding that same standstill at intermission had it not been for the Sullivan/Staas connection that tipped the odds in PC’s favor.

- That last-minute swing was the ninth time this semester that the Blue Hose found the back of the net within the final 60 seconds of a period’s end, giving them the one-goal edge at the break that was obtained thanks to the aforementioned lockdown D that bled into the first 10 minutes of the ensuing stanza.

- Hammond’s unrelenting aggressiveness and Sullivan’s 4:08 score pushed Presbyterian’s advantage to its highest mark of three, able to avoid the possibility of a sudden overtime interval once Paredes mustered her fourth goal of the year with 2:03 on the board.

- Coach Clakeley’s club never missed any of their four free position opportunities in their third league triumph, amassing the second-highest scoring number in the decade-long series versus the Eagles while breaking Winthrop’s previously perfect record against them.

COACH CLAKELEY’S THOUGHTS

“Our girls put together another team effort tonight, I’m so incredibly proud of this group to persevere through another close finish. We had some different personnel on the attack today, and Willow was sensational once again. However, our win wasn’t all determined by that end of the field, because our defense rose to the occasion and came through for another big performance”.

UP NEXT

- Continuing to reach feats never before seen by Blue Hose lacrosse while fighting their way back to a .500 resume, Presbyterian heads back home for their next two league encounters starting this weekend. A Saturday date with High Point awaits PC for their follow-up to the Winthrop victory, getting underway at 1:00 p.m. on ESPN+.

- The Panthers, normally a powerhouse in the conference, have seemed to shake off a bit of an inconsistent start to ’23 by scooping up consecutive Big South wins over Radford and Longwood, downing the Highlanders and Lancers 15-5 and 20-14 respectively.