In a hard fought battle that came down to the final singles match of the day, the NAIA No. 2-ranked Georgia Gwinnett women's tennis team was edged by NCAA Division II's sixth-ranked West Florida 5-4 on Saturday night.

"The ladies fought until the bitter end and came up just short," remarked GGC head coach Chase Hodges.  "I couldn't be more proud of the effort that we displayed tonight.  I really believe that we are going to be a tough team to beat at the NAIA National Tournament.  I was particularly impressed with Chiara [Di Salvo] today as she stepped up with a great singles victory."

The Grizzlies (10-2) collected a 2-1 lead at the break as GGC captured victories at the number one and three doubles positions.  The Grizzlies went up 1-0 with an 8-3 win by the duo of Klara Dohnalova and Helga Pinones-Haltenhoff at the number three doubles post.  At the one spot, the duo of Sophie Feller and Valeria Podda pulled out a come-from-behind 9-7 victory for the second win of the day.

West Florida (19-5) picked up its lone doubles victory at the number two spot as the GGC duo of Di Salvo and Alyona Vasileva was edged 8-6.

In singles play, UWF's Katarina Dikosavljevic tied the match at 2-2, defeating Feller 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2 singles.  The Grizzlies regained the 3-2 lead with a victory at No. 1 singles as Podda defeated UWF's Paula Lopez 6-2, 6-2.

While Georgia Gwinnett dropped matches at the six and three singles spots to give the Argos the 4-3 advantage, Di Salvo pulled out the 6-3, 7-5 victory at the number four spot to tie the match at 4-4. 

The match's outcome came down to No. 5 singles where UWF's Dianna Vlad outlasted GGC's Vasileva to pick up the 6-4, 7-6 win, handing the Argos the 5-4 victory.

GGC returns to action on Sunday as it wraps up its run in the UWF Invitational against No. 15 Valdosta State.  First serve is set for 9 a.m.

For all the latest on Grizzly Athletics, including news, scores and features, visit GrizzlyAthletics.com. Check out all the latest Grizzly Women's Tennis content and join the conversation by following @GGC_Tennis on Twitter.