WINGATE, N.C.- The No. 21 Georgia College Women's Tennis team (15-8) saw its 2018 season come to a close Saturday in the NCAA Southeast Regional II Semifinals, a 5-4 loss to No. 27 University of North Georgia (15-7).
The day started on a promising note, with the No. 3-seed Bobcats taking the first two doubles finishes from the No. 6-seed UNG.
Kristen Jones (Marietta, Georgia) and Emilia Richter (Berlin, Germany) got the scoring started in the second slot with a quick 8-1 finish over Vaishali Jorge and Lexa Loden.
Emma Niemi (Cumming, Georgia) and Paula Garriga (Barcelona, Spain) doubled the Bobcat lead by beating Adrienne Bofinger and Cibeles Zuddy 8-4 in third doubles.
UNG got their first point in the first slot, as the No. 21 pairing of Felicia Baratta and Holly Bennett took down Jena Kelly (Lawrenceville, Georgia) and Valeria Lopez (Galicia, Spain) 8-4.
North Georgia evened out the match 2-2 with the first singles result, Richter dropping a 6-1, 6-2 match on the third line. Garriga put the Bobcats back in front 6-2, 6-4 over Zuddy in the fifth slot. Loden then beat Niemi in sixth singles 7-6, 6-3.
Jorge put The Nighthawks up again 4-3 thanks to a marathon in fourth singles, out-lasting Jones 6-3, 2-6, 6-2. First singles saw Kelly beat Baratta 7-5, 6-4 to even the match again 4-4, putting the fate of both teams on second singles. Lopez gave Bofinger everything she could handle, pushing the match to a third set when rallying from dropping the first 7-6 by controlling the second by a 6-2 score. Bofinger clinched the match with a 6-1 third set, putting the Nighthawks in the Regional final.
The loss brings a close to the season for Bobcat Women's Tennis, a season that saw Georgia College advance to the PBC Title game for the first time since 2003. Georgia College went 15-8, landing Kelly and Richter All-PBC honors in singles, and the doubles pairing of Kelly and Lopez an All-PBC trophy as well.
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.
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