by Brian DeCandia, sports information graduate assistant
FLORENCE, S.C. – The No. 30 Georgia College women's tennis team (5-3, 3-2 PBC) battled at the higher-ranked No. 13 Francis Marion University (7-0, 3-0 PBC) Friday afternoon, eventually falling 5-4.
Doubles action was a 2-1 advantage for the Patriots. No. 5-ranked Jitka Gavdunova and Mona Blauen defeated Bertille Lion (Lyon, France) and Kayla Barksdale (Augusta, Ga.), 8-4. GC got a win at second doubles, as May Johnson (Sydney, Australia) and Michelle Lingner (Dunwoody, Ga.) teamed for an 8-2 drubbing of Caitlin Siney and Kathryn Vernon. Kim Lochner (Neu-Isenburg, Germany) and Lisa Setyon (Paris, France) fell to Kerry Hall and Kimberley Hurter, 8-3. Johnson and Lingner remain undefeated this season at 3-0.
Lion was defeated by No. 35 Gavdunova, 6-0, 6-3 and Johnson lost to No. 31 Blauen, 6-4, 6-3. Barksdale set GC on the right foot with the highest singles win of the day, coming in the third slot over Siney, 6-0, 6-0. Barksdale now owns the team lead in wins with a 6-2 record.
Lochner defeated Hurter in three sets, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, improving to 5-3 this season and Lingner defeated Vernon, 6-3, 6-1 improving Lingner's record to 2-1. The deciding match was between Hall and Setyon, as the GC freshman put up a great fight, falling in a three set marathon, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.
The 'Cats will come home to play Concord University Tuesday, March 8 at 2 p.m.
The Georgia College Department of Athletics, back-to-back winners of the PBC Commissioner's Cup, sponsors 10 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. As a Division II program, Bobcat Athletics prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the teams' multiple appearances in post-season competition as well as documented academic success and community-service involvement. Sign up at www.twitter.com/BobcatSports and www.facebook.com/gcbobcats for up-to-the-minute reports, and visit www.GCBobcats.com for more information, and to nominate your favorite former Bobcats and Colonials to the GC Athletics Hall of Fame.
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