TEMPE, ARIZ – Three Peach Belt Conference women’s tennis teams have been ranked in the preseason top 25 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA). Columbus State will begin the 2021 spring campaign ranked in a tie for #5 in the nation while Flagler enters the poll at #10 and North Georgia #15.

The Lady Cougars will begin the year tied with Hawaii Pacific for fifth in the national poll. CSU was off to a good start in 2020 with an 8-3 record before the COVID shutdown, with three top-25 victories to earn a sixth-place final regular season ranking in the poll. 

Isaacs will have another loaded team with reigning ITA Southeast Region Senior Player of the Year Beatriz Lopez anchoring the lineup. The four-time All-American was 8-1 in singles and 9-2 in doubles last spring before closing 2020 strong by capturing the singles crown of the ITA Southeast Regional Championships in straight sets in October. Fellow 2020 All-American, Luise Sachs, will be relied upon again for Columbus State after playing at the top spot in the singles lineup a season ago. Hailing from Leipzig, Germany, Sachs went 6-3 during her sophomore season after earning spots on both the All-PBC singles and doubles team in 2019. Candice Paya, the 2018 PBC Freshman and ITA Rookie of the Year, rounds out a dangerous trio for the Lady Cougars. A four-time PBC Player of the Week, Paya was 9-2 as a singles player in 2020.

Flagler is coming off an 8-4 season last year where it posted a 1-0 mark in the Peach Belt Conference before the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the rest of the season.

After starting the year 8-0 prior to the COVID-19 shutdown in 2020, North Georgia started things back up in the ITA Southeast Regional with Vaishali Jorge and Claudelle Labonte Frey winning the doubles championship. The duo was the second UNG team to win the ITA Regional in doubles in program history.
 

RANK	TEAM
1	Barry University (8)
2	Lynn University
3	Nova Southeastern University
4	Univ. of Indianapolis
T5	Columbus State University
T5	Hawaii Pacific University
7	Univ. of West Florida
8	University Of Central Oklahoma
9	Saint Leo University
10	Flagler (Fla.)
11	Azusa Pacific University
12	Wingate University
13	Angelo State University
14	Southwest Baptist
15	University of North Georgia
16	Midwestern State University
17	Fresno Pacific University
18	Florida Southern College
19	Grand Valley State University
20	Queens University of Charlotte
21	University of West Alabama
22	Wayne State (MI)
23	Tusculum University
24	Indiana University of Pennsylvania
25	Concordia University (Irvine)

Other Receiving Votes (Alphabetical): Augustana University, Concordia College (New York), Drury University, Harding University, Point Loma Nazarene University (Calif.), Queens College (New York), Rollins College, Southeastern Oklahoma State, Southern Arkansas University, St. Mary’s University (Texas), University of Tampa