Women's Tennis Set to Face Radford in Big South Semifinals

CLINTON, S.C. – The Presbyterian College women's tennis team begins its quest for a Big South Championship on Saturday as the Blue Hose face No. 3 seed Radford at 12 p.m. The match will be played at Marion Diehl Park in Charlotte, N.C. and the winner of this match will face the winner of No. 1 seed Charleston Southern vs. No. 4 seed Gardner-Webb in Sunday's title match.

MATCHDAY CENTRAL
MATCHUP: No. 3 Radford (7-10, 4-2 Big South) vs. No. 2 Presbyterian (5-12, 4-2 Big South)
TIME: Saturday, April 17, 2021 (12 pm)
LOCATION: Marion Diehl Park (Charlotte, N.C.)
LIVE STATS: BigSouth.com

COACH ROBERTS ON BIG SOUTH TOURNAMENT
"We are really excited for this weekend to compete at the Big South Championship," commented head coach Joel Roberts. "The team earned a spot in this tournament and I know they are ready to go. Radford is a very good team and I know they will bring it on Saturday. We have had a great week off prep and are ready to go on Saturday at 12 p.m.."

SCOUTING THE HIGHLANDERS
- Radford enters Saturday's semifinal with a 7-10 record overall with a 4-2 mark in Big South matches this spring. The Highlanders closed out the spring with a 7-0 victory against Southern Virginia on Tuesday afternoon.
- Salma Loudili leads the Highlanders in singles play with a 12-5 mark as she was named the Big South player and freshman of the year on Thursday when the league announced its annual awards.
- Malin Falk finished the regular season with an 11-6 record in singles including nine wins at the No. 3 position for Radford.
- Radford had a pair of doubles teams finish with 10 wins this spring including a 5-1 league record. Emily Brandow paired with Falk and Tyler Blalock paired with Katey Fruehauf were the two duos.
- On March 23rd, Presbyterian recorded a 5-2 victory over Radford in Virginia.
- The Highlanders have won nine of the previous 13 meetings all-time against the Blue Hose with PC winning the previous four matchups. Radford has won the only meeting the two teams have had in the conference tournament in 2013.

SCOUTING THE BUCCANEERS
- Charleston Southern enters the weekend after finishing the regular season with an 8-7 record overall including a perfect 6-0 mark in Big South matches. CSU finished the regular season with a 5-2 victory against UNC Asheville on April 11.
- Madalina Man leads CSU in singles with a 9-5 record overall, while Zoe Cauthen and Khyanna Singh each have eight wins this spring.
- In doubles play, Man and Singh have an 8-5 record this spring in doubles along with the pair of Cauthen and Tiffany Pyritz checking in with an 8-5 mark as well.
- On April 6th, CSU picked up a 6-1 victory over Presbyterian in Charleston.
- The Bucs have won 13 of the prior 15 meetings from Presbyterian including both meetings in the Big South Championship occurring in 2017 & 2018.

SCOUTING THE RUNNIN' BULLDOGS
- The Runnin' Bulldogs head to Charlotte after concluding the regular season with a 5-6 record and finishing 2-3 in league matches this spring. Gardner-Webb fell in its last regular-season match on April 10 by the count of 5-2 against Radford.
- In singles play, Maria Jardim paces Gardner-Webb with a 6-2 record as she went a perfect 5-0 at No.5 singles.
- Daniela Naupari and Miljana Ristic finished the spring 5-3 in doubles playing at No. 1 for the Runnin' Bulldogs.
- On March 10th, PC improved to 2-0 in league play with a 4-3 win in Boiling Springs.
- Gardner-Webb has won 12 of the previous 14 meetings from Presbyterian in the DI era for the Blue Hose. GWU has won both encounters in the Big South tournament which occurred in 2015 & 2016.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY
- Saturday's match with Radford will be the ninth time that PC has competed in a Big South Championship match with only one win in the previous eight tries in the Championship.

ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS
- Five Presbyterian College women's tennis players received postseason honors from the Big South on Thursday, as the league announced its annual awards.
- Junior Zeba Jamal earned first team all-conference singles, while freshman Lucianna Piedra was named to the second team all-conference singles. The doubles pair featuring senior Samantha Calais and freshman Alexa Wilson was named to the second team all-conference doubles. Junior Jessica Leeman was honored on the Big South All-Academic Team.

LAST TIME OUT
- The Presbyterian College women's tennis team wrapped up the 2021 regular season slate on Thursday with a 4-3 defeat in Big South Conference action against Campbell at the Templeton Tennis Courts.

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Players Mentioned

Samantha Calais: 5' 6"; Senior

Zeba Jamal: 5' 8"; Junior

Jessica Leeman: 5' 7"; Junior

Alexa Wilson: 5' 7"; Freshman

Lucianna Piedra: 5' 6"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Samantha Calais
: 5' 6"; Senior

Zeba Jamal
: 5' 8"; Junior

Jessica Leeman
: 5' 7"; Junior

Alexa Wilson
: 5' 7"; Freshman

Lucianna Piedra
: 5' 6"; Freshman