MONTEVALLO, Ala. – The No. 31 Georgia College Women's Tennis team (10-7, 7-3 PBC) picked up its 10th win of the season and fourth straight in defeating the University of Montevallo (16-6, 4-6 PBC) 5-4 on the road Saturday.
The Bobcats started on the right foot with a 2-1 advantage after doubles, getting wins in the first and third slots.
Juniors Jena Kelly (Lawrenceville, Georgia) and Emma Niemi (Cumming, Georgia) beat Alice Copland and Rayne Sinclair 8-3 in the first slot, the 10th win this season for the Bobcat duo. Classmate Kristen Jones (Marietta, Georgia) teamed with freshman Camilla Negrini (Milan, Italy) for an 8-4 win over Julia Berg and Amanda Gautreaux in third doubles.
For the second-straight match, seniors Macy Polk (Powder Springs, Georgia) and Hannah Serdinia (Suwanee, Georgia) came up on the short end of a 9-8 finish, this time to Alina Munteanu and Merel van Zutphen.
Needing three wins to clinch the team victory, Jones got the singles finishes started by topping Lauren Pero in a near shutout 6-0, 6-1 in the sixth slot. Next, Polk dropped a 6-0, 6-3 bout to Munteanu in the first slot for a 3-2 Bobcat lead.
Niemi got Georgia College back on track with a win in the fifth slot, topping Gautreaux 6-4, 6-3. Niemi owns a team-best 11-5 singles mark, as she and Jones have both won four straight. The team-victory point came from Negrini in third singles, a straight-set 6-4, 6-2 win.
With the team victory in hand, the final two matches went Montevallo's way, as Kelly lost to Emily Beatty in second singles 6-3, 7-5 and Serdinia fell in a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 marathon to Berg.
With the win, the Bobcats improve to 7-3 in Peach Belt Conference (PBC) play, good for fifth in the standings. The top eight teams advance to the PBC Tournament April 21-23 in Florence, South Carolina.
The Bobcats are back in action Tuesday, April 11 at 1 p.m. traveling to No. 33 Wingate University in non-conference action.
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.
