JONESBORO, Ga. - The 22nd-ranked (ITA Division II Poll) Flagler College women's tennis team will face 13th-ranked Francis Marion University Friday (Apr. 16) at the Clayton County Tennis Center in Jonesboro, Ga., the site of the 2010 Peach Belt Conference Championships. Francis Marion is seeded fourth while Flagler is the fifth seed.
These two teams met Mar. 27 in Florence, S.C. with Francis Marion winning 7-2. The Patriots took two-of-the-three doubles flights before
Chelsea Taylor (Bradenton, Fla./Bradenton Prep Academy) and
Rachel Gould (Toronto, Ontario/Vaughan Road Academy) defeated Kerry Hall and Karine Augur 8-1.
In singles play, Taylor notched Flagler's only point when she defeated Augur 6-1 and 6-1.
Deon Miller (Miami, Fla./Dr. Michael Krop HS) gave Hall a run for her money at No. 5 singles but lost 6-3, 6-7 (8-10) and 10-8. FMU won in straight sets at No.1 through No. 4 singles.
Flagler (14-6 overall, 8-4 Peach Belt) has won three-out-of-their-last-four matches, including a 6-3 win over Florida Tech. The Saints are in their first year of Peach Belt competition.
Francis Marion (14-4, 9-3) has won six-out-of-their-last-seven matches heading into the conference tournament. The Patriots have three nationally ranked singles players - Tereza Sykorova (No. 10), Jitka Gavdunva (No. 34) and Sabina Baberadova (No. 36). FMU also has two nationally ranked doubles teams – Baberadova and Sykorova (No. 2) and the duo of Gavdunova and Mona Blauen (No. 13).
The winner will advance to Saturday’s semifinal and will face the winner of the first quarterfinal between eight-seed Lander University (ranked No. 32) and top-seed Armstrong Atlantic State University (ranked No. 1). The semifinal will be played at 1 p.m. Armstrong Atlantic is the favorite having won 74 regular season matches in a row and have won 14 outright conference tournament titles, including the last six in a row. AASU is also the two-time defending national champions.
Click here to view the Peach Belt Conference release and bracket.