MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. – The smallest stature player on either roster came up huge Monday for No. 14 Georgia College & State University Women's Tennis (18-2, 5-1 PBC), as the Bobcats beat No. 12 University of North Georgia (12-5, 5-2 PBC) 4-3.
The match was suspended Sunday due to rain, and resumed Monday at 3 p.m. All eyes eventually came to sixth singles, with the teams knotted up at 3-3. In the sixth slot, Shradha Chhabra (New Delhi, India) was in a heated battle with Svetlana Teterina. The second to last match was on the court next to sixth singles, setting up Chhabra and Teterina to know their team's hopes relied on their result.
Attention shifted to sixth singles with the players already in the third set, Teterina taking the first one 7-6[5] and Chhabra rallying for a 6-4 win in set two. Chhabra closed the match with a 6-4 final set. As Teterina's final shot caught the top of the tape and fell harmless on her side, Chhabra's teammates mobbed her to celebrate.
The Bobcats took the doubles point Sunday, getting wins in the second and third slots. In second doubles, Ashton Morrison (Cumming) and Jada Young (Hilton Head Island, South Carolina) beat Angelina Linnikova and Teterina 6-2.
Third doubles saw Sofia Shing (Auckland, New Zealand) and Chhabra team for a 6-4 win over Ashley Moinard and Valentina Ascarrunz. First doubles was a loss for Emma Fleming (Suwanee) and Chiara Santoro (Santa Ursula, Spain), unable to upset the nation's #14 pairing in Viktorie Wojcikova and Johanna Lippert in a 6-3 loss.
The first singles result doubled the Bobcat advantage, as Young upset No. 73 Lippert in straight sets on the second line 6-1, 6-4. Shing put GCSU a point away from the win with a 6-2, 6-3 win at first singles over Wojcikova. Fleming was upended in second singles by No. 51 Anna Markvartova 2-6, 6-2, 6-1.
With the final three singles bouts on the courts the rains came, suspending play until Monday. UNG got momentum started on the new day, as Morrison fell to Moinard 6-2, 7-5 in fifth singles. Next came a loss in the fourth slot, as Santoro was edged by Linnikova 3-6, 6-4 6-3. That set up the thriller in the sixth slot to decide the team's victory.
The win puts the Bobcats at 5-1 in Peach Belt Conference (PBC) play this season, good for second in the league standings.
The Bobcats are back in action tomorrow, April 18 at 1 p.m., traveling to No. 25 Columbus State University to close the regular season.
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 post-season competition as well as high-level academic success and community-service involvement. Bobcat Athletics embodies the mantra of "Graduating Champions for Life." Sign up at @GCSUBobcats on all social media outlets for up-to-the-minute reports.
