Women’s tennis finishes successful season

With the conclusion of fall competition, the women’s tennis unit has remained strong throughout the whole season both in doubles and singles.

The Panthers finished with an overall singles record of 41-28 and a doubles record of 25-7.

The team’s most recent competition was at the Southeast Regional Championship from Oct. 19 to Oct. 22, where All-American Abigail Tere-Apisah and sophomore Masa Grgan finished as the runner-up in doubles competition.

Freshman Linn Timmermann, who’s singles record is 7-2, had a strong showing in the competition as well, winning four singles matches, losing in the championship round.

The addition of the other freshman to the team, Natallia Vavulina, also bettered the team’s overall singles record.

Vavulina ended with a 6-1 record, going undefeated at the Atlanta Classic on Sep. 15 along with sophomore Chaimaa Roudami, who kept hot stats throughout the whole season and ended 7-2, staying a par with Vavulina and Timmermann.

Tere-Apisah did not have her best record this season (3-3), but all of her matches were against nationally-ranked competitors and is 23rd in the ITA Preseason Singles ranking.

At the Southern Shootout on Sep. 21, the Papua New Guinea native showed her best play as she won two games in a contested flight.

Tereh-Apisah’s high ranking is what led to her invitation to the main draw of All-American competition, despite falling to Texas A&M’s Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar at the Pacific Palisades All-American competition.

The team’s doubles performance was also of mention as well, losing only two matches in the competition.

The best doubles combination was Roudami-Timmermann as they went undefeated in five games at the Atlanta Classic and the Southern Shootout.

However, the Panther who showed the most versatility was senior Whitney Byrd, who won six out of eight games after pairing up with Jocelyn Ffriend, Grgan and Timmermann.

With a strong fall season, the team will until the spring continue competition in the dual-match competitions.