COLUMBUS, GA -- The University of North Georgia and Flagler College each won their semifinal matches 4-0 on Saturday to advance to the championship match of the 2024 PBC Women's Tennis Tournament in Columbus. The two teams will meet for the title on Sunday at 10am at the Walden Tennis Center; the event is being hosted by Columbus State University.
UNG defeated Georgia College & State University while Flagler downed host Columbus State. UNG and Flagler will meet in the final for the second straight year, Flagler won the 2023 tournament 4-1 over the Nighthawks. UNG will be searching for their first PBC tournament title while Flagler will be trying for their third championship in the last four years.
UNG 4, GCSU 0
North Georgia got the doubles point with wins at second and third doubles. Valentina Ascarrunz and Carolina Reis defeated GCSU's Bentz and Chhabra 6-1 at third doubles while Angelina Linnikova and Svetlana Teterina beat Santoro and Almagro 6-2.
Teterina and Ascarrunz weren't done as both rolled through their singles matches in straight sets. Ascarrunz gave up only one game in a 6-1, 6-0 win over Laura Almagro while Teterina beat Chhabra 6-0, 6-4.
UNG clinched the match at #1 singles as Angelina Linnikova beat Jada Young 6-2, 6-2.
Flagler 4, CSU 0
In a match much closer than the final score, the two teams fought for nearly 3 hours before Flagler put away the third-seeded Cougars 4-0.
The Saints' Nadja Meier and Charlotta Buss beat CSU's Marcondes and Labat 6-0 to get things started at #2 doubles. Columbus State got a win at #1 doubles as Mariana Ramirez and Nikoline Gullacksen beat Flagler's Dana Heimen and Leonie Floeth 6-3. The doubles point came down to the third spot where Flagler's Laura Jipescu and Antonia Pfeiffer edged CSU's Bigotti and Pesickova 7-5.
Flagler grabbed two quick points in singles as Meier beat Ramirez 6-2, 6-2 at #1 and Eryka Kruk beat Marcondes 6-2, 6-3 for a 3-0 Saints' lead.
That score would stick for awhile as the other four singles matches showed signs of going the distance. Flagler got their clinching point at third singles where Buss beat Pesickova 6-0, 4-6, 6-0. The unfinished matches at #2 and #4 were both in the third set when the match was decided with the match at #5 5-4 in the second set after the first set was decided by a tiebreaker.