Thursday morning's NAIA top-10 showdown went in favor of the top-ranked Georgia Gwinnett College women's tennis team by a 5-0 dual-match score over No. 10 William Carey University (Mississippi) at the GGC Tennis Facility.
This was the first of two matches planned for the team during the Grizzly Spring Break Invitational.
GGC (10-0) quickly won the doubles point behind a pair of 6-1 triumphs on the No. 1 and No. 2 courts. The senior duo of
Stephanie Fernandez and
Iryna Lysykh collected the first win at the top of the lineup. Juniors
Justine Lespes and
Carol Mora then secured the 1-0 dual-match advantage with a win at No. 2 doubles.
The strong play carried over into singles with Lysykh winning by identical 6-1 set scores on the No. 2 court. The lead grew to 3-0 when sophomore
Versace Gatti picked up a 6-3, 6-2 victory at No. 4 singles.
Mora and Lespes rounded out the winners with triumphs on the No. 5 and No. 1 courts, respectively. Mora closed out her match at No. 5 singles with a 6-1 second-set score after coming out on top of a 6-4 battle in the opening set.
Meanwhile, Lespes won a first-set tiebreaker 7-3 before winning all six games in the second set in a matchup on the No. 1 singles court. Lespes is the NAIA's No. 1-ranked singles player.
The Grizzlies have won 27 consecutive matches and captured 49 of the 51 points in dual matches this spring.
Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to host No. 17 Indiana Wesleyan University on Friday, March 8, at the GGC Tennis Facility, starting at noon.
