Tusculum, Wingate Eliminated in NCAA Women's Tennis Championship

Francis Marion 5, Wingate 3

The 44th-ranked Wingate University Bulldogs won two out of three doubles matches Sunday morning, but the 26th-ranked Patriots of Francis Marion prevailed in four of the first five singles matches to take a 5-3 victory in the opening round of the 2014 NCAA women's tennis tournament. FMU improves to 15-6 overall, advancing to the second round of the tournament. Wingate sees its season end at 19-6 overall.

FMU won number two doubles 8-3, but an 8-4 win from freshman Layla Tanik (Raleigh, N.C.) and junior Sarah Martin(Chadron, Ohio) at number three doubles made it 1-1. The Bulldogs took a 2-1 lead when senior Ali Evers (Roswell, Ga.) and junior Becca Thomas (Alpharetta, Ga.) won 8-5 at number one doubles.

Wingate took a 3-1 lead when freshman Sierra Parsons (Toronto, Canada) won 6-0, 6-1 at number five singles. The Patriots won at number six and number one singles to tie the match at three, while a victory at number four singles put FMU on top 4-3. Francis Marion's Julia Graf won the clincher at number two singles, winning 6-3, 6-0 against Thomas. At number three singles, Tanik dropped the opening set 7-5 but led set two 5-1 when the match ended.

Francis Marion advances to take on the top-seeded and second-ranked Pirates of Armstrong Atlantic on Monday. The Pirates defeated Tusculum 5-0 Sunday morning.

The Bulldogs were playing short-handed Sunday, missing two of six starters who were injured in a car accident last week. All-SAC sophomore Caroline Holland (Spartanburg, S.C.), Wingate's number two singles player did not play, while junior Tiffany Williams (Cary, N.C.), Wingate's number six singles player, was also out Sunday. Tanik, normally Wingate's number four singles player, was also hurt in the accident, but was able to play Sunday.

Armstrong 5, Tusculum 0

Top-seed Armstrong Atlantic State University recorded a 5-0 victory over No. 8 seed Tusculum College in the opening round of the 2014 NCAA Division II Women's Tennis Southeast Regional, hosted by AASU at the Bacon Center.

Armstrong (24-1), the No. 2 ranked team in the nation, advances to Monday's regional semifinal to face the No. 4 seed Francis Marion University. Tusculum (22-3), the No. 39 team in the country, has its season ended while snapping a five-match winning streak. The 22 wins by the Pioneers are a new school and South Atlantic Conference single-season record.

The Lady Pirates, the two-time defending NCAA II national champions, swept all three doubles matches, including an 8-1 pro set win by the duo of Alexsndra Filipoviski and Barbora Krtickova over the TC team of Kate Hutchinson and Kealee Heffner. Filipoviski and Kritckova, the top-ranked doubles team in the nation, improves to 23-1 on the year.

AASU picked up their second point when the No. 3 flight doubles pair of Clara Perez and Carolina Prats-Milan won 8-0 over TC's Amanda Sumner and Emily Waters.

TC's No. 2 doubles pairing of Adrienne Kaye and Erin Mills battled the eighth-ranked doubles duo in the nation in Marlen Hacke and Olga Kalodzitsa as the Pioneer duo only trailed 5-3. But the Hacke and Kalodzitsa won three of the final four games to claim an 8-4 victory.

Filipoviski, the No. 2 singles player in the country, won in straight sets (6-0, 6-0) over Tusculum's Sarah Baker at the No. 1 flight.

Kalodzitsa recorded the match-clincher with her 6-0, 6-0 win over Sumner at No. 6 singles.

Sunday's loss marked Tusculum's first road defeat of the season (9-1), while the Lady Pirates extend their 136-match home winning streak, which dates back to 2003.

The Pioneers were making their eighth NCAA Division II Tournament appearance as the 2014 SAC Tournament champions will return all seven letter-winners from this year's squad.