CHARLESTON, S.C. - Charleston Southern recorded its eighth straight win and third Big South win of the season on Saturday afternoon as the Buccaneers topped UNC Asheville at the Asheville Racquet Club, 5-2.

The Buccaneers (8-1, 3-0) took two of the three doubles matches and four of the six singles points to increase their winning streak in the 2017 season. Asheville falls to 8-7, 3-3 in conference competition with the loss.

CSU opened the match with Yana Morar and Kimberley Koerner topping Asheville's Christin Louw and Emily Sidor on court no. 3, 6-1. The Bulldogs responded with a 6-2 win on court no. 1 with Hannah Francisco and Kylee Shipley defeating Nicolin Luecke and Sophie Cloessner to even the score.

The Bucs took the decisive match on court no. 2 with Mi'Kola Cooper and Valeria Koussenkova topping Hunter Hall and Steele Watson, 6-4.

Koussenkova was first off the courts in singles play with the senior recording a 6-1, 6-1 win over Sidor on court no. 5 to give the Bucs the 2-0 lead. Koerner followed shortly after with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Hall on court no. 4 to put CSU within one of sealing the win.

Asheville kept their hopes alive with Amalie Davidson's 6-4, 6-1 win over CSU's Morar on court no. 6.

Those hopes were short-lived as Cooper connected on an ace to seal her 7-5, 6-3 win on court no. 3 over Watson to give the Bucs their fourth point. Luecke added the fifth with a 7-5, 6-3 straight set win over Francisco on court no. 1.

Shipley topped Cloessner in the match of the day on court no. 2 with the Asheville athlete recording the 7-6, 6-7, 1-0 (11-9) win.

Buccaneer Notables

• Kimberley Koerner is the only remaining player in the Big South Conference with a perfect record in the 2017 season as the sophomore improved to 9-0 in singles play with her straight set win on Saturday afternoon.
• Sophie Cloessner's loss on court no. 2 was her first Big South loss in her collegiate career. Prior to the match, Cloessner had been a perfect 19-0 in conference play, including posting a 9-0 record last season on her way to earning Big South First Team All-Conference honors.
• The Bucs' eight-match winning streak exceeds last season's longest winning streak of seven matches that spanned from February 6-March 11. CSU's longest winning streak in program history came in the 2014 season when the Bucs won 16 in a row on their way to the Big South regular season title.

Up Next
Charleston Southern travels to Radford University for a Monday afternoon contest at the RU Tennis Courts. First serve is set for 2 p.m.