FLORENCE, S.C. – The No. 25 Georgia College Women's Tennis team (14-6) ran the table on Augusta University (10-10) Friday morning in the quarterfinals of the Peach Belt Conference (PBC) Tournament, hosted by Francis Marion University.
The No. 2-seed Bobcats' win over No. 7-seed Augusta advances Georgia College to the semifinals to take on No. 3-seed University of North Georgia. The Nighthawks beat No. 6-seed FMU 5-1 today.
Doubles play began the sweep for the Bobcats. The All-PBC Second Team pairing of Jena Kelly (Lawrenceville, Georgia) and Valeria Lopez (Galicia, Spain) beat Eva Miralles-Miro and Amelia Pinoargote 8-2 in the first slot. Kelly and Lopez are now 12-8 this season.
Third doubles finished next, as Emma Niemi (Cumming, Georgia) and Paula Garriga (Barcelona, Spain) beat Alejandra Arranz and Maria Alice Vieira 8-4. The tightest of the three bouts came in the second slot, but was still a Bobcat win, as Kristen Jones (Marietta, Georgia) and Emilia Richter (Berlin, Germany) beat Merye Gobernate and Ana Faria 8-6. Niemi and Garriga are now 7-6 this season, and Jones and Richter improve to 9-5.
All-PBC First Team singles selection Kelly made short work of Miralles-Miro, 6-0, 6-1 to put the Bobcats a win from clinching. Garriga closed the day in the fifth slot, improving to 16-2 with 6-3 and 6-0 sets against Marie Cantenot.
The Bobcats are back in action tomorrow, April 21 at 9 a.m. against the Nighthawks. Georgia College is in the semifinals for the first time since 2016.
The Georgia College Department of Athletics, two-time winners of the PBC Commissioner's Cup and the 2017 PBC Sportsmanship Institution of the Year, 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 Twitter and Facebook for up-to-the-minute reports, and visit GCBobcats.PhotoReflect.com to purchase photo prints from home athletic contests.
