Women?s Tennis National Championship Second Round Recap
By: Mike DeVader, NAIA Communications & Sports Information Intern
MOBILE, Ala. — (Results | Bracket | Video Recap) The quarterfinals of the 2015 NAIA Women’s Tennis National Championship is set, as eight more schools punched their tickets to the next round after successful matches on Wednesday afternoon on the courts of the Mobile Tennis Center in Mobile, Ala.
Eight fresh faces joined the action after first-round byes, and took home a 6-2 record on the afternoon.
SCAD Savannah (Ga.) enjoyed a smooth 5-0 victory in its matchup with Concordia (Calif.), and in the process collected the school’s 10th victory in national championship competition. Joining the Bees in the sweep category was Embry-Riddle (Fla.) who came off the bye and made quick work of newcomer Arizona Christian (5-0), who was trying to build off the program’s first championship win a day earlier against host Mobile (Ala.).
Defending national champion Georgia Gwinnett shook off some rust and a feisty Westmont (Calif.) team to advance to the quarterfinals with a 5-2 win. The Warriors came out the gate strong by taking the first two doubles matches, 9-8 and 8-5, respectively. The Grizzles recovered and hit their stride in singles competition, sliding to three singles match victories (No. 4-No. 6) to take home the victory.
Three additional top seeds moved on to the quarterfinals with 5-1 triumphs – Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) (Lewis-Clark State), Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) (Northwestern Ohio) and Xavier (La.) (Oklahoma Baptist).
In a matchup of two of the NAIA’s best, the Gold Nuggets’ Nour Abbes fell behind 4-1 in her first set against the Bison’s Anastasia Baranova, but roared back to win 11 points in-a-row (6-4, 6-0).
The two closest matches of the day also brought the only upsets of the afternoon, as both Northwood (Fla.) and Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) march on the national quarterfinals. The Seahawks prevailed over Brenau (Ga.), 5-3, after falling behind 2-1 after doubles action. The back-end of the singles slate carried Northwood to victory after winning No. 3 through No. 6 tilts.
The final match to conclude saw the Wolves advance over William Carey (Miss.) to their first quarterfinals after earning the team’s second national championship victory in history. The back-and-forth affair went down to the wire, before the final match ended in a Crusaders retirement. It was a valiant effort by William Carey, who refused to give up after falling down 3-0 in doubles.
With the win, Cardinal Stritch will play Auburn Montgomery.
Tomorrow’s quarterfinal play begins at 1 p.m. CDT, with four spots in the semifinals up for grabs.
