The Georgia Gwinnett College women's tennis team will play for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's NAIA Indoor National Championship for the third straight season after a hard-fought 4-1 semifinal match victory over Lindsey Wilson College (Kentucky) on Saturday morning in Overland Park, Kansas.

The top-seeded Grizzlies (4-0) rallied to win the match's doubles point after the No. 4-seeded Lindsey Wilson collected a victory on the No. 2 court. Senior Justine Lespes teamed with freshman Cherysh Henry for a 6-2 triumph at No. 3 doubles.

The GGC No. 1 pairing of senior Isid Hernandez and freshman Diana Ilie completed the comeback by picking up a hard-fought 7-5 win that gave the defending tournament champion a 1-0 advantage.

In singles, Hernandez won her fourth straight match on the No. 6 court with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Lindsey Wilson's Heyka Rodriguez. The triumph by the ITA's No. 18-ranked NAIA player extended the Grizzlies' lead to 2-0.

Freshman MaryLove Edwards tallied the third match point behind a dominant 6-2, 6-1 win against Mayra Gisone on the No. 5 court.

The other three singles matches would go the distance as the Grizzlies searched for the important fourth point.

Lindsey Wilson (1-2) got on the scoreboard, at 3-1, as No. 16-ranked Maria Ange Ortega Mateu tallied a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory on the No. 3 court.

However, Lespes ended any further drama in the match with a victory on the No. 2 court. The Grizzly player, ranked fourth nationally, won the opening set against No. 11-ranked Anastasiia Vorobiova 6-2 before closing out the match by winning six of the seven games in the deciding third set.
 
Coach's Corner
"Once again, I'm proud of our women and their play today. We really stepped up our play in this match and showed a lot of determination while competing in some tough matches. Winning the match-clinching match continues to give Justine great confidence heading into tomorrow's final. Meanwhile, Diana and Isid played exceptionally well in doubles. We're excited for another opportunity to play for a national championship," said Head Coach Hannah Keeling.
 
Up Next
Georgia Gwinnett College is scheduled to play No. 2 seed Keiser University (Florida) in the ITA NAIA tournament's championship match on Sunday, February 1, starting at 4 p.m.