CHICAGO, ILL.-- Coming off a 7-0 loss to highly ranked Northwestern, the 59th ranked Furman women's tennis team rebounded by holding off a scrappy DePaul squad 4-3 on Saturday in Chicago, Illinois. With the win, Furman moves to 2-2 on the young 2003 season.

Furman took a 1-0 lead when the Lady Paladins claimed the match's doubles point. At No. 1, Mary Kovarik and Caroline Bentley defeated Szilvia Kelemen and Marina Parashkevova, 8-4. After DePaul's Brenda Leung and Natalie Matko evened the doubles score at 1-1 with an 8-4 triumph at No. 2 against Natalie The and Marti Morris, the Lady Paladins clinched the opening point when Krista Thomson and Mary Neill Hagood held off Karen Falduto and Megan Stewart at No. 3, 9-7.

Furman then won singles matches at the Nos. 1, 3, and 5 positions to claim the victory. At No. 3, The won in straight sets against Leung, 6-2, 6-4. After the Lady Paladins' Shellie Cochran defeated Falduto at No. 5, 6-4, 6-4, Kovarik clinched the Furman win in dramatic fashion with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 win against Parashkevova at No. 1.

Furman will attempt to win its second straight match on Wednesday when the South Carolina Gamecocks visit Mickel Tennis Center at 5:00 p.m.

No. 59 Furman 4, DePaul 3
February 1, 2003
Singles Results
1. Mary Kovarik (FU) def. Marina Parashkevova (DU), 5-7, 6-2, 6-4
2. Szilvia Kelemen (DU) def. Mary Neill Hagood (FU), 6-3, 6-3
3. Natalie The (FU) def. Brenda Leung (DU), 6-2, 6-4
4. Natalie Matko (DU) def. Shannon Moore (FU), 6-2, 6-4
5. Shellie Cochran (FU) def. Karen Falduto (DU), 6-4, 6-4
6. Rachel Dybas (DU) def. Marti Morris (FU), 6-3, 6-2
Doubles Results
1. Kovarik/Caroline Bentley (FU) def. Kelemen/Parashkevova (DU), 8-4
2. Leung/Matko (DU) def. The/Morris (FU), 8-4
3. Hagood/Krista Thomson (FU) def. Falduto/Megan Stewart (DU), 9-7