LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. --- The second-ranked Georgia College Gwinnett College women's tennis team defeated No. 44 Tusculum College 8-1 Sunday afternoon at the GGC Tennis Facility.

Sunday was a homecoming for Tusculum head coach Adam Jackson, who previously served as an assistant coach with the Grizzlies prior to taking over the Pioneer program in October.

The Grizzlies (13-2) swept doubles including an 8-1 win by at the top flight by the NAIA top-ranked pairing of Valeria Podda and Sophie Feller as they defeated TC's Erin Mills and Kealee Heffner.

Chiara Di Salvo captured the fourth point of the day for the home team with her 6-3, 6-0 win at No. 4 singles against Adrienne Kaye.

Podda, the No. 1 ranked player in the nation, won the deciding point 6-2, 6-4 over Heffner at the top flight.

Tusculum sophomore Franziska Funke captured the Pioneers' lone point of the afternoon as she rallied from a set down to defeat Feller at No. 2 singles, 6-7, 6-1, 10-5. Feller is currently the No. 50 singles player in the nation.

The loss snaps the Pioneers' six-match winning streak as Tusculum's ends the regular season with a 19-4 record.

TC will be the No. 2 seed in this week's South Atlantic Conference Tournament and will have a bye into Friday's semifinal round where they will play either Queens University of Charlotte or Coker College. The SAC Championship is being held on the campus of Brevard College in Brevard, North Carolina. The championship match will be played Saturday morning and the winner will earn the league's automatic berth to next month's NCAA Division II Tournament.

- TC -