By Sean Montgomery, Sports Information Student Assistant
GAINESVILLE, Ga. – The No. 13 Georgia College women's tennis team (1-0) kicked off the season with a hard-fought 5-4 victory at Brenau University (0-1). The team overcame a slow start in doubles action to dominate singles and take victory over the Golden Tigers.
With the team bout tied up at 4-4, everything fell on second singles, where two-time All-Peach Belt Conference (PBC) pick Macy Polk (Powder Springs) beat Rebecca Pijls. Down after a 7-5 first set, Polk rallied with 6-3 and 6-0 sets in the comeback.
The Bobcats trailed 2-1 after doubles play, with Brenau snatching away a pair of victories by scores of 8-5 and 8-4. The lone doubles win for Georgia College came from the duo of sophomore Jena Kelly (Lawrenceville) and Polk. The two Bobcat women, playing third-slot doubles, defeated Pijls and Paula Rives Palau by a score of 8-6.
In the first slot, Camille Clausse-Pujo (Bourdeaux, France) and Kristen Jones (Marietta) fell to Fatyha Berjane and Patricia Recalde 8-4. The second slot brought the 8-5 defeat, as Emma Niemi (Cumming) and Hannah Serdinia (Suwanee) lost to Maya Mammetgulyeva and Kirsten Dickins.
Georgia College would go on to erase the deficit and command singles play, winning four out of the six matches.
Fifth singles finished up first, as Niemi made short work of Paula Rives 6-3, 6-1 to even the team score 2-2. Kelly followed with a quick 6-3, 6-2 win over Mammetgulyeva in the fourth slot.
After a loss for Clausse-Pujo in the first spot to Berjane evened the match again, Jones got another Bobcat lead with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Recalde. A sixth-slot win for Brenau knotted the match at 4-4, setting the stage for Polk's heroics. Serdinia fell in sixth singles to Dickins, a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 battle.
The Bobcats pick up the 5-4 win over Brenau University and move to 1-0 on the season. The team will be back in action and look to pick up win number two when they travel to No. 21 Valdosta Saturday, Feb. 4 for a non-conference matchup against the Blazers. Match time is set for 2 p.m.
The Georgia College Department of Athletics, two-time winners of the PBC Commissioner's Cup, sponsors 11 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 @GCBobcats on social media for up-to-the-minute reports, and visit GCBobcats.PhotoReflect.com to purchase photo prints from home athletic contests.
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