The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s tennis team split a pair of matches Sunday in Knoxville, beating Air Force 4-3 but losing 4-0 to host Tennessee. Against Air Force (0-2), the Mocs took two doubles matches, with No. 1 Samantha Caswell and Rachele Gazzola winning 6-0 and No. 3 McKenzie Barco and Caroline Hall winning 7-6 (7-2). In singles, the Mocs got wins from No. 1 Caswell, 6-4, 6-3; No. 4 Sydney Patton, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-2); and No. 5 Gazzola, 1-6, 7-6, 6-3. Against Tennessee (3-0), three matches were uncompleted after the Volunteers won the Nos. 2, 5 and 6 singles and No. 2 doubles matches. The Mocs fell to 2-1 with the loss.
– The UTC men lost 6-0 at No. 9 North Carolina on Sunday, with the Tar Heels (4-0) dropping the Mocs to 0-2. None of the singles matches went to a third set. UTC’s spring home opener is at 6 p.m. Saturday against Austin Peay at McCallie’s Strang-Voges Tennis Center.
Track & Field
– UTC freshman Kennedy Thomson won the women’s mile to highlight the Mocs’ indoor season opener Sunday in the Emory Invitational at the Birmingham (Ala.) Crossplex. Thomson clocked a time of 5 minutes, 2.61 seconds in her first college meet, almost two seconds faster than the runner-up; teammate Brianna Nelson was 16th in 5:23.70. In the 5000-meter run, Anna Kate Chance was fourth in 18:32.83. The Mocs’ other top-20 finishes came from Julia Henderson (800, 2:24.19), Hannah Caldwell (3000, 14th, 11:02.72) and Rebekah Wich (3000, 16th, 11:08.25). It was the debut indoor meet for UTC coach Andy Meyer. “For our first race of the season, we had a lot of really good and solid efforts,” Meyer said. “We’re only going to get better from here.”
Basketball