FLORENCE, S.C. – The No. 31 Georgia College Women's Tennis team (12-10) beat No. 38 Young Harris College (15-9) 5-3 in the backdraw of the 2017 Peach Belt Conference (PBC) Tennis Tournament Saturday morning.
The backdraw was halted after its first round, as the area has rain forecasted for Sunday.
The Bobcats started on the right foot with a pair of doubles victories in the first and second slots.
The All-PBC Second Team pairing of Jena Kelly (Lawrenceville) and Emma Niemi (Cumming) beat Eva Castiglioni and Elin Rundcrantz 8-4 in the first slot. In second doubles, Macy Polk (Powder Springs) and Hannah Serdinia (Suwanee) topped Maria Puerta and Ana Rodriguez 8-2. Third singles came up short, as Kristen Jones (Marietta) and Camilla Negrini (Milan, Italy) fell to Oriana Labaqui and Laura Sanchez 8-2.
The Mountain Lions pulled even with the first singles result, as Rundcrantz beat Kelly 6-3, 6-1. Jones got the victory in sixth singles to inch Georgia College back in front 3-2 with a 6-1, 6-3 bout against Puerta.
Serdinia got the Bobcats a single team point away from victory, taking down Sanchez 6-3, 6-2. A Young Harris win came next at third singles, when Negrini fell to Labaqui in a three-setter, 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, setting up Niemi to provide the clinching point. The fifth-singles starter for GC Tennis outlasted Quevedo 7-6, 2-6, 6-4.
With the PBC Tournament at a close for Georgia College, the Bobcats now await at-large announcements to the NCAA Southeast Regional, the tournament beginning April 29. The Bobcats were No. 7 in the most recent region poll, and on the bubble for the last at-large selections.
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.
