Women's Tennis Finishes Fourth at 2024 ITA NAIA National Women’s Team Indoor Championship

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.- For the first time in program history, the women's tennis team competed at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) NAIA National Women's Team Indoor Championship. Tennessee Wesleyan was one of eight teams invited to take part in the event due to being ranked in the top seven of the 2023 NAIA Women's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Postseason Poll (one spot is given to a host team). The event took place from February 2-4 in Overland Park, Kan.

First Round:

In the first round, the fourth-seed Lady Bulldogs took on the No. 5 seed in the tournament, Ave Maria University. 

TWU took the first lead in the contest, winning the doubles point after Astrid Staksrud and Ivet Prat won the No. 3 doubles 6-1 while Mercedes Chasset and Julia Richardet won the No. 2 doubles spot 6-4. A momentary tie occurred as Ave Maria won the second singles match but Prat put the team ahead 2-1 with a win in the No. 5 singles 6-3, 6-3. Chasset put the team in the driver's seat with a win in the No. 3 singles spot 6-3, 7-5 and the team won the match 4-1 when Raquel Canadas won the No. 4 singles 7-6, 7-6.

The win advanced the team to the semifinals.

Semifinals:

In the semifinals, the Lady Bulldogs faced the No. 1 team in the field, Georgia Gwinnett College. 

In the match against the top seed, the team battled but could not turn any of the points in their favor, falling in the match 4-0.

The loss moved the team to the third-place match on Sunday.

Third Place Match:

In the third-place match, Tennessee Wesleyan faced the No. 2 seed in the tournament, Southeastern University.

After the doubles point, the team was behind early as Southeastern won the doubles point. Laia Berne put the match in a 1-1 tie with a win in the No. 2 singles spot of 6-3, 6-4. Unfortunately, the next two points in the race to four went to Southeastern, pushing them ahead 3-1. Prat gave the team one more point in the match, a 6-4, 6-4 win in the No. 5 singles match, but the opponents won the fourth point they needed to win the match. 

TWU finished in fourth place in the tournament.