A top-five ranked NAIA women's tennis showdown went in favor of the No. 2-ranked Georgia Gwinnett College by an impressive 7-0 sweep against No. 3 SCAD Savannah (Georgia) on Saturday at the GGC Tennis Facility.

This was the second shutout victory for the Grizzlies (13-1) over the Bees this spring. Both teams met earlier in a match at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's NAIA Indoor Championships on February 4 in Overland Park, Kansas.

GGC quickly grabbed momentum in the match by securing the doubles point. The team of junior Justine Lespes and sophomore Cassidy Mataia won all six games on the No. 1 court for the first victory. Then, the junior tandem of Stephanie Fernandez and Iryna Lysykh posted a decisive 6-2 triumph in the No. 2 match for the early point.

Senior Angel Carney and junior Teodora Jovic rounded out the winners in doubles action with a 6-2 victory on the No. 3 court.

The strong play continued in singles as the hosts won five of the six matches in straight sets.

Junior Eva Siska was victorious by 6-0, 6-1 scores on the No. 6 court and Fernandez matched that score in the No. 5 match – giving the team a 3-0 advantage.

Lespes clinched the match victory with a 6-0, 7-5 victory at No. 2 singles. Then, Carney added an impressive 6-4, 6-0 win in the No. 4 match and Jovic rounded out the straight-set winners with a 6-1, 6-3 triumph on the No. 1 court.

After dropping the first set at No 3 singles, Lysykh rebounded to capture the second set by a 6-4 score to set up the deciding third set. She capped the hard-fought effort with an 11-9 win in the tiebreaker 11-9 – culminating the sweep.
  "We played extremely well from start to finish against a good and ranked opponent. We had positive momentum from doubles and didn't step off the gas pedal today," said Head Coach Hannah Keeling.
  Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to host McPherson College (Kansas) on Thursday, March 23, at the GGC Tennis Facility, starting at 10 a.m.