By Angela Moryan, Sports Information Assistant
MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. – No. 31 Georgia College Women's Tennis (6-7, 3-3 PBC) fell to No. 4 Armstrong State University (14-3, 4-0 PBC), 9-0, Friday as the Bobcats brought the action back home to Milledgeville to close out Georgia College's spring break.
The Bobcats came out of warmups strong, making the Pirates fight for their doubles sweep. Both Armstrong's first and second flights downed the Bobcat pairs with identical 8-4 finals.
Jena Kelly (Lawrenceville) and Emma Niemi (Cumming) took their usual spots in the lineup as the No. 1 line, but they couldn't take down the No. 3 doubles team in the nation, Lena Lutzeier and Diana Stomlega.
On court two, Macy Polk (Powder Springs) and Hannah Serdinia (Suwanee) fell to Alice Patch and Tamri Chalaganidze.
Armstrong's Paula Boixader Roca and Tatjana Stoll secured the Pirate sweep with an 8-3 win over Camilla Negrini (Milan, Italy) and Kristen Jones (Marietta) in the third spot.
In singles, Polk took on No. 5 Lutzeier in the first flight. The Bobcat lost the first set 6-2. She battled to split the match in set two but fell 6-4.
Next door, Kelly faced Armstrong's Boixader Roca in the two spot. The junior fell 6-2, 6-3, giving Armstrong their fifth team point of the day.
The Pirates placed two more nationally-ranked singles players in the third and fourth spots on the lineup. No. 17 Stoll downed Negrini at three, 6-2, 6-3, as No. 22 Stomlega took out Serdinia on the center court 6-1, 6-2.
Niemi lost to Chalaganidze in the fifth flight 6-1, 6-2. Finally, Jones fought hard in the sixth spot against Patch, but the Pirate came out on top 6-3, 6-4. The loss brings a close to regular-season competition against the national power Pirate Women's Tennis team. The university has announced this will be the last season of competition for the ASU athletic department.
The Bobcats are scheduled to host No. 8 Flagler College Sunday at 11 a.m., pending weather conditions. Currently, the Bobcats sit at eighth in the Peach Belt Conference (PBC). The top eight teams in the 13-team league will advance to the PBC Tournament April 21-23 at Francis Marion University in Florence, South Carolina.
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.
