Tusculum College advanced to the Food Lion South Atlantic
Conference Women's Tennis championship match with a 5-3 victory
over Queens University of Charlotte in a semifinal match played
Thursday morning at the Rock Hill Tennis Center.
The Pioneers (21-2) will face Newberry Friday at 9 a.m. for the
championship and the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA
Division II Tournament. The fourth-seeded Wolves upset top-seeded
Wingate 5-1 in the other semifinal match.
Just as they did in their regular-season matchup with the Royals
(15-4) last Saturday in Greeneville, the Pioneers fell behind in
singles before rallying to win the match. Kate Hutchinson, Kealee
Heffner and Adrienne Kaye provided the winning points for the
Pioneers, who are seeking their third SAC Tournament championship
and first since 2008.
The Pioneers scored the first point of the match as Emily Waters
and Amanda Sumner defeated Farina Rafiq and Paige Ernest by an 8-2
score at flight three of doubles. The Royals' team of Christin
Rustscheff and Melissa Laing evened the score at 1-1 with an 8-5
victory over Hutchinson and Heffner at flight one, but the Pioneers
regained the lead as Erin Mills teamed with Kaye to beat Jaclyn
Rock and Claire Hamilton 9-7 at flight two.
Trailing 2-1 entering singles, the Royals went back on top 3-2 as
Rustscheff, the SAC Player of the Year, defeated Sarah Baker 6-0,
6-2 at flight one and Laing downed Mills 6-2, 6-2 at flight
two.
Heffner knotted the match at 3-3 as she bested Hamilton 6-3, 6-1 at
flight four, and Kaye gave the Pioneers the lead for good with a
6-3, 6-4 victory at flight five over Jessee Clauson.
Needing to win one of the two remaining singles matches, Hutchinson
took care of business as she beat Rock 6-2, 7-5 at flight three to
clinch the win for the Pioneers.
Tusculum is making its first appearance in the SAC championship
match since 2010, when the Pioneers lost 5-3 to Lincoln Memorial.
In the regular-season meeting between the teams, the Pioneers
defeated the Wolves 6-3 at Newberry on March 30.
