COLUMBUS, GA -- The Peach Belt Conference has announced the bracket for the 2023 women's tennis tournament, following the conclusion of the regular season on Tuesday. All eight teams qualify for this year's event with play beginning on Friday morning at the Walden Tennis Center on the campus of Columbus State University.
More tournament information can be found here.
For the first time in program history, the Flagler Saints are the #1 seed for the tournament. Flagler was a PBC regular-season co-champion in 2022, but were the #3 seed for the tournament. This season, the Saints left no doubt, running the table against the conference with a 7-0 record, 16-4 overall. Ranked #5 in the nation, Flagler will be in search of their second tournament title in the last three years after breaking through in 2021 with their first championship. The Saints will meet eight-seeded Georgia Southwestern on Friday at 3:00 pm.
Columbus State, Georgia College & State University and North Georgia all finished the regular season with 5-2 conference records and enter the PBC's three-team tiebreak. In head-to-head competition, the three were all 1-1 against each other. They also all lost to Flagler and defeated all other PBC opponents. The third tier of the tiebreak looks at ITA rankings, which were updated on April 12. From those rankings, North Georgia (ITA #12) is the #2 seed with GCSU (ITA #14) the #3 and CSU (ITA #25) the fourth seed.
North Georgia has reached the PBC Tournament semifinals in each of the last four tournaments and played for the championship in 2019. The Nighthawks enter this year's event as the #2 seed following the tiebreak and are 12-5 overall on the season and ranked #12 in the nation by the ITA. UNG will face seventh-seeded Young Harris on Friday at 6:00 pm.
Georgia College & State University enter as the #3 seed, their highest seeding since 2018 when they reached the championship match. Ranked #14 in the nation, GCSU has won six of their last seven and 14 of their last 16 heading into the postseason. The Bobcats will play sixth-seeded Augusta on Friday at 6:00 pm.
Columbus State is the defending PBC tournament champion and will once again serve as the host. The Cougars are the #4 seed after going 11-5 overall and (record) in conference play. Ranked #25 in the nation, CSU has won four of the last five PBC tournaments and will face #5-seed Lander on Friday at 3:00 pm.
The winner of the PBC Tournament will receive the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Admission to the PBC Tournament is free.
Peach Belt Women's Tennis
2023 Tournament Schedule
Friday, April 21
3:00 pm - #1 Flagler vs. #8 Georgia Southwestern
3:00 pm - #4 Columbus State vs. #5 Lander
6:00 pm - #2 North Georgia vs. #7 Young Harris
6:00 pm - #3 Georgia College & State University vs. #6 Augusta
Saturday, April 22
3:00 pm - 1/8 winner vs. 4/5 winner
3:00 pm - 2/7 winner vs. 3/6 winner
Sunday, April 23
1:00 pm - Championship Match