By: Benjamin Petree, Sports Information Student
DUE WEST, S.C. – The Georgia College & State University Women's Tennis team (7-1) are now on a two-match winning streak after defeating Erskine College (2-3) Tuesday on the road.
The pairing of Sofia Shing (Auckland, New Zealand) and Shradha Chhabra (New Delhi, India) finished first in the third doubles continuing their excellent play together this season defeating opponents Czarina Aguirre and Hanna Vasconez 7-5. As a pair this season, Shing and Chhabra hold a 7-1 record in doubles play for the Bobcats. First doubles was a tough match for the Chiara Santoro (Santa Ursula, Spain) and Emma Fleming (Suwanee, Georgia) pairing who lost to Emma Bentz and Luize Valtere 7-5. With the doubles point up for grabs, Ashton Morrison (Cumming, Georgia) and Jada Young (Hilton Head Island) secured the point for the Bobcats with a 7-5 win at second doubles over Ariana Jativa and Teodora Stefanovic.
Kicking off singles play for the Bobcats, Shing swept Bentz 6-0, 6-0 in a dominating performance on the first line. Young followed this on the second line beating her opponent Valtere 6-0, 6-2 which put the Bobcats on the brink of victory over Erskine. Morrison finished next on the fifth line losing to Aguirre 6-1, 6-3.
However, Santoro sealed the win for the Bobcats with her victory 6-0, 7-5 over Stefanovic on the fourth line. Santoro remains undefeated in singles with a record of 8-0 so far this season. Chhabra followed with another win, defeating Vasconez 7-5, 7-5. Fleming gave it her all on the third line but fell to Jativa 6-4, 7-6. The final score was 5-2 in favor of the GCSU Women.
The next match for the Bobcat Women's squad is Saturday, March 4 at home against Converse University. The first serve is set for 2 p.m.
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."
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