GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University women's tennis team has qualified for the South Atlantic Conference Women's Tennis Championship tournament, which will be held Thursday-Saturday, April 21-23 in Sumter, South Carolina.
Playing with three freshmen and three sophomores in the singles lineup for most of the season under first-year head coach Matt Frost, the Pioneers finished in sole possession of fifth place in the conference with an 8-4 record and were 38th in the latest ITA Division II National Team Rankings after finishing the regular season with a 13-6 record.
Tusculum will face fourth-seeded Newberry in the SAC quarterfinals on Thursday at 2 p.m. at the Palmetto Tennis Center. The winner of Thursday's quarterfinal match will play the winner of the match between top-seeded Queens and eighth-seeded Lincoln Memorial in the semifinals on Friday at 1 p.m., with the championship match slated for Saturday at noon.
Tusculum was seeded sixth in last year's SAC Tournament and beat Lenoir-Rhyne 4-3 in the quarterfinal match before being eliminated by Queens in the semifinals. The Pioneers have won three SAC Tournament championships, claiming the title in 2004, 2014 and 2017.
Tusculum and Newberry last met in the SAC Tournament in 2017, when the Pioneers beat the Wolves 5-0 en route to the championship. Tusculum is 4-2 all-time against Newberry in the SAC Tournament, including a 5-4 victory in the 2014 championship match.
SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
Freshman Elodie Baechler (La Rippa, Switzerland) has a 5-16 record in dual matches and went 4-8 in conference play out of the number one position in the Tusculum lineup. The Pioneers are undefeated when Baechler wins in singles, including a 5-2 victory over 19th-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne on April 4.
Freshman Tabitha Howe (Sevenoaks, England) finished the season with wins in five of her final six singles matches at flight two. Howe was 3-0 in three-set matches, helping her to a season record of 12-8 overall and 8-4 in conference matches.
A third freshman, Leonie Floeth (Toenisvorst, Germany) lines up at flight three for the Pioneers after going 8-11 in dual matches and 6-6 in conference play during the regular season. Floeth was 5-2 at flight three and won five of her final six matches. Including tournament play in the fall, Floeth went to a third set in 13 of her 28 singles matches this season, going 2-4 in full third sets and 2-5 in tiebreakers.
Sophomore Paulina Loretz (San Mateo Atenco, Mexico) checks in at flight four with a 14-6 record in dual matches and tied for the team lead with eight wins in conference play. Loretz had a perfect 5-0 record in three-set matches (two full sets, three tiebreakers) and has won four of five matches entering the postseason.
Sophomore Valentina Loretz (San Mateo Atenco, Mexico) matched her sister Paulina with 19 overall victories and 14 dual match wins during the season, and had an 8-4 record in conference play. Loretz, who was 10-5 at flight five during the season, has gone 12-1 in straight-set matches since Feb. 12 and had three 6-0, 6-0 victories in conference play.
Sophomore Johanna Palacio (Mar del Plata, Argentina) played at flight six during the season and went 8-7 overall with a 4-5 conference record. Palacio won three of her final four matches, including a three-set win in the victory over Lenoir-Rhyne on April 4.
In doubles, Baechler and Howe were 7-12 at flight one for the Pioneers and 3-9 in conference play, while Floeth and Paulina Loretz went 13-3 overall and had an 8-2 record at flight two in SAC competition. At flight three, Valentina Loretz teamed with senior Emilie Hansen (Hvidovre, Denmark) to go 8-3 in dual matches, with a 5-3 mark in SAC action.
SCOUTING THE WOLVES
Newberry set the program single-season record for victories during the 2021-22 season, as the Wolves enter the postseason with a 22-3 overall record and 9-3 in SAC play. The Wolves, ranked 16th in the latest ITA Division II national survey, have won six straight matches heading into the tournament, with their lone defeats this season against the top three seeds in Queens (4-3), Wingate (5-2) and Lenoir-Rhyne (5-2).
The Wolves are led by SAC Player of the Year candidate Zulay Casteneda at flight one of singles. The senior has won 18 straight matches since the start of the spring season and is ranked 15th in Division II by the ITA after going 11-0 in conference play. Junior Nastassia Chamoun is ranked 65th in Division II and is 18-2 overall with a 9-1 record in conference play, while senior Amy Griffiths had a 15-5 record during the season and was 6-4 in league play, while going 8-0 at flight three.
Sophomore Rosie Harfield went 8-4 in singles for the Wolves and was 3-2 in conference play, with sophomore Ish Singh at 14-4 overall and 7-4 in league play. Rounding out the lineup for the Wolves is senior Lucy Spice, who went 15-5 overall and had a 5-5 record in SAC competition.
Two of Newberry's three doubles teams are nationally-ranked, with Griffiths and Judit Gonzalez ranked 24th after finishing 10-2 overall and 8-2 at flight two during the spring. Also ranked are Chamoun and Spice at 32nd in Division II, with an 8-3 record at flight one and a 3-2 league mark. The most frequent number three doubles pairing was Singh and Castenada, who were 2-1 in conference matches and 3-2 overall.
SERIES HISTORY
Newberry won the regular-season meeting with Tusculum by a 5-2 score on February 24 at Newberry, which snapped a six-match winning streak in the series by the Pioneers and a run of 14 consecutive regular-season wins over the Wolves dating to the 2008 season. Tusculum has a 22-4 edge in the all-time series with Newberry, which includes the six postseason meetings.
SAC TOURNAMENT
The 2022 South Atlantic Conference Women's Tennis Championship will be played at the Palmetto Tennis Center in Sumter, S.C. beginning with quarterfinals on Thursday, followed by semifinals on Friday and finals on Saturday.
The Conference Championship schedule is as follows:
Thursday, April 21 (quarterfinals)
Match 1: #8 Lincoln Memorial vs. #1 Queens, 2 p.m.
Match 2: #5 Tusculum vs. #4 Newberry, 2 p.m.
Match 3: #7 Lenoir-Rhyne vs. #2 Wingate, 2 p.m.
Match 4: #6 Anderson vs. #3 Carson-Newman, 2 p.m.
Friday, April 22 (semifinals)
Match 5: Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2, 1 p.m.
Match 6: Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4, 1 p.m.
Saturday, April 23 (finals)
Match 7: Winner Match 5 vs. Winner Match 6, noon
