In what was one of the most anticipated matches of the regular season, the No. 2 Georgia Gwinnett women's tennis team upset defending NCAA Division III National Champion and No. 1 ranked Williams (Mass.) on Saturday, winning 5-2.
The match, which began at 9:30 a.m., lasted nine hours as weather conditions forced play from hard surface to clay surface courts.
"Today was the best win in our program's history," stated GGC head coach Chase Hodges. "I have a lot of respect for Williams and what their program has accomplished. Being said, our women endured a long, wet day and continued to battle and play at an elite level to pick up the win. This is one of the proudest moments I've had with our women's team in my four years as its coach."
The Grizzlies collected a 2-1 lead at the break as GGC captured victories at the number two and three doubles positions. At the two spot, the duo of Chiara Di Salvo and Alyona Vasileva defeated Julia Cancio and Hannah Atkinson 8-5 for the first GGC win of the day. Minutes later, the Grizzlies went up 2-0 with an 8-6 win by the duo of Klara Dohnalova and Helga Pinones-Haltenhoff at the number three doubles post.
Williams, which has captured seven of the last eight NCAA Division III national titles, picked up its lone doubles victory at the number one spot. The match went the distance as Linda Shin and Juli Raventos defeated Valeria Podda and Sophie Feller 9-8.
Feller rebounded from her doubles defeat to win the number three singles post in three sets (6-2, 1-6, 6-2). The Grizzlies collected their fourth win of the match at the number two slot as Dohnalova defeated Mia Gancayco 6-3, 7-5.
The Grizzlies sealed the upset victory over Williams at the number five singles slot as Di Salvo blanked Alex Stone with a 6-0, 6-0 victory.
Williams' lone singles victory came in the four spot as Cancio defeated Vasileva 7-5, 6-0.
Georgia Gwinnett is 9-1 on the year after Saturday's victory while Williams drops to 6-1 on the year with the loss.
GGC returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts NCAA Division II foe West Alabama in head-to-head action. First serve is set for 12:00 p.m.
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