SAVANNAH, Ga. – Posed with the tall order of upsetting a top-10 squad for the first time this season, the No. 38 Georgia College Women's Tennis team (12-11) came up short in the NCAA Southeast Region Semifinals, falling 5-1 to No. 8 Flagler College (20-4).
The Bobcats started in a 2-1 hole after doubles. Kristen Jones (Marietta) and Camilla Negrini (Milan, Italy) got the team's lone point for the day in third doubles, outlasting Felicitas Runkel and Hilary Hanton 9-7. The win evens out the Bobcat duo's record at 10-10 on the season.
In first doubles, All-Peach Belt Conference (PBC) Second Teamers Jena Kelly (Lawrenceville) and Emma Niemi (Cumming) dropped an 8-3 bout to Lizanne Jinkertz and Patrycja Maslanka. Second doubles didn't fare much better, as Kelly Burge and Mary Jo Nanti downed Macy Polk (Powder Springs) and Hannah Serdinia (Suwanee) 8-2.
Needing three singles wins for the team victory, the Saints got them in the third, fourth and fifth slots. Burge beat Negrini 6-3, 6-2 in third singles, while Maslanka won over Serdinia 6-1, 6-2. Runkel topped Niemi 6-2, 6-1 in fifth singles as well.
In the three unfinished matchups, Bobcats were going strong. In first singles, Polk had forced a third set, dropping set one 1-6, she came back with a 6-4 win in the second, but was down 0-1 in the third. In second singles, Kelly was down a set, but up 2-1 in the second on Jinkertz. In sixth singles, Jones had taken the first set from Hanton 7-6, and was up 3-0 in the second.
The match brings a close to the 2017 campaign for GC Women's Tennis, their 23rd straight season in the NCAA Tournament. Kelly and Niemi earned a slot on the All-PBC Second Team in doubles, as the Bobcats finished 12-11 with wins over four nationally-ranked teams.
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.
