The South Atlantic Conference Places a Pair of Women's Tennis Teams in NCAA Tournament
NCAA Division II Women's Bracket
#49 Wingate Earns Fifth-Straight NCAA Tournament Bid; 'Dogs Face Flagler in Opening Round
Indianapolis, Ind.----The South Atlantic Conference regular season and tournament champion Wingate University Bulldogs earned a four seed in the NCAA Division II women's tennis tournament. The bracket was released Tuesday night. The Bulldogs have now earned a SAC-best 13 NCAA Tournament bids. Wingate will face fifth-seeded Flagler College in the opening round Sunday, May 3.
Top-ranked Armstrong State is the number one seed in the NCAA Southeast Regional. Ninth-ranked Columbus State is the two seed, with No. 15 Georgia College earning the three seed. Wingate is the four seed, with No. 16 Flagler earning the five seed. 48th-ranked GRU Augusta is the number six seed, with No. 28 Queens and Pfeiffer checking in at seven and eight.
The tournament will be hosted at two sites. Armstrong State will host Pfeiffer in the opening round, while Wingate and Flagler will also play the opening round match in Savannah on Sunday. Columbus State is the other host. The Cougars will face Queens in the opener, while Georgia College and GRU Augusta also play in Columbus, Ga.
Wingate is 16-4 overall, with a 16-1 record against NCAA Division II opposition. The Bulldogs went 11-0 in the SAC, while going on capture the SAC Tournament title. This is the fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. The Bulldogs enter the tournament riding a 14-match winning streak. Wingate has won four of the last five SAC Tournament championships. The 'Dogs have also won five consecutive regular season titles, giving Wingate nine SAC championships in the last five seasons.
The Bulldogs are led by second team All-SAC singles selection Layla Tanik (Raleigh, N.C.). The sophomore is 15-4 in singles play, with an 11-0 mark against conference opponents while going 15-1 against NCAA Division II opposition. She has won 13 consecutive matches. Senior Becca Thomas (Alpharetta, Ga.) is 14-3 on the year, going undefeated against Division II opposition while riding a 13-match winning streak.
Freshman Maria Garcia (San Carlos, Venezuela) has a 16-3 singles record, having won nine straight matches. The SAC Tournament MVP has a pair of victories against NCAA Division I opponents. Freshman Oroma Womeodu (Memphis, Tenn.) is 14-5 in singles play, going 13-2 against Division II opposition. Junior Caroline Holland (Spartanburg, S.C.) is 9-7 at number two singles for Wingate, while sophomore Andrea Ternera (Bogota, Colombia) has played 18 matches at number one singles, picking up seven wins including five conference victories.
The freshman doubles duo of Garcia and Womeodu earned second team All-SAC honors. They are 15-5 on the year, with a 13-1 record at number two doubles. They have won nine straight matches, including picking up wins in both SAC Tournament matches. Ternera and Thomas are 9-5 at number one doubles, going undefeated in the SAC Tournament while riding a four-match winning streak. Holland and Tanik are 11-3 at number three doubles. They went 8-1 against conference opponents this season.
NCAA Southeast Regional Tournament
Sunday, May 3 at Armstrong
#1 Armstrong vs. #8 Pfeiffer
#4 Flagler vs. #5 Wingate
Monday, May 4 at Armstrong
Arm-Pfeiffer winner vs. WU-Flagler winner
Sunday, May 3 at Columbus State
#2 Columbus State vs. #7 Queens
#3 Georgia College vs. #6 GRU Augusta
Monday, May 4 at Columbus State
CSU-Queens winner vs. GC-GRU winner
Queens Women's Tennis Selected for NCAA Division II Tournament
Queens University of Charlotte will find extra play for the women's tennis team as they were selected for the NCAA Division II Tournament last night, April 28, 2015. The women's team will face host school Columbus State for their regional first round play on May 3rd.
Queens put together a string of accomplishments over the course of the season seeing their way to the No. 28 spot nationally while holding a 16-3 record. The squad recently took runners-up in the South Atlantic Conference Tournament to Wingate (16-4). Queens joins bracket play as the seventh seed in a competitive Southeast section. They face Columbus State who took the 2nd seed in the region with a (20-3) record. Columbus State was the runners-up in the Peach Belt Conference, taking a 5-0 to Armstrong Atlantic.
The Southeast Region #2 bracket features Georgia College (17-6) and Georgia Regents University-Augusta (15-7)) who come in as the third and sixth seeds respectfully.