COLUMBUS, Ga. – The Georgia College & State University Women's Tennis team (6-1) continued its dominance in the early season, taking down the University of Montevallo (0-3) 4-3 Sunday when the two teams met at Columbus State University.
The Falcons took the doubles point with wins in the first and second slots. In third doubles, Sofia Shing (Auckland, New Zealand) and Shradha Chhabra (New Delhi, India) battled to a 7-6[4] victory over Eva Dirr and Erika Friere. The third doubles pairing for GCSU is now 6-1 this season.
In first doubles, Emma Fleming (Suwanee) and Chiara Santoro (Santa Ursula, Spain) lost to Mireia Turro and Cyba Ozzor 6-4. Second doubles was a 6-2 loss for Ashton Morrison (Cumming) and Jada Young (Hilton Head Island, South Carolina) to Emily Hafner and Lieselotte Hartlöhner.
The Bobcats evened things out with the first singles result, as Young topped Ozzor with a pair of 6-3 sets on the second line. GCSU then took the lead when Santoro beat Dirr 6-4, 6-2 in fourth singles. Chhabra put the Bobcats one point from victory with a 7-5, 6-2 match against London Breedlove. Young evened her record out at 3-3, while Santoro is a team-best 7-0 and Chhabra is 5-2.
The Bobcats then clinched the match with a win in the third slot, as Fleming stayed perfect on the season, beating Hafner 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. Fleming is 6-0 this season. The final two matches went for Montevallo, as Morrison lost to Hartlöhner 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in fifth singles, and Shing fell to Turro on the top line 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.
The Bobcats are back in action Tuesday, Feb. 28 at 2:30 p.m., traveling to Erskine College.
Owning the top Academic Success Rate among public schools in Division II, the Georgia College Department of Athletics sponsors 11 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. GCSU Athletics has won three-straight Presidents' Awards for Academic Excellence, and are two-time winners of both the PBC Commissioner's Cup and the PBC Institution of the Year Sportsmanship Award. As a Division II program, Bobcat Athletics prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the teams' continued appearances in postseason competition as well as high-level academic success and community-service involvement. Bobcat Athletics embodies the mantra of "Graduating Champions for life.
