MOBILE, Ala. - The William Woods University Lady Owls tennis team relied on its singles play to lock up a spot in the semifinals of the NAIA national tournament.
No. 11 seed William Woods triumphed in four of six singles matches to edge No. 3 SCAD Savannah (Georgia) in quarterfinal play Thursday afternoon.
Meanwhile, the No. 9 seed William Woods men were knocked out of the national tournament after they were shut out by No. 1 Georgia Gwinnett 5-0 in the quarterfinals Thursday morning.
The Lady Owls (14-9) - winners of eight in a row - will clash with No. 2 seed Lindsey Wilson (Kentucky) in the semifinals at 1 p.m. today. William Woods was blanked by Lindsey Wilson 5-0 on March 6 in Columbia, Kentucky.
In today's other national semifinal, top-seeded Georgia Gwinnett squares off against No. 4 Keiser (Florida).
Here are the Lady Owls' doubles and singles results from Thursday:
No. 1 doubles: Camille Gbaguidi/Paige Murdock (SCADSAV) defeated sophomore Felicia Cesar/sophomore Julia Mulder (WWU), 8-1; No. 2: freshman Zlata Shuraeva/sophomore Chelsea Steward (WWU) def. Johanna Weber/Karina Rovira (SCADSAV), 8-6; No. 3: Valerie Droop/Julia Albuquerque (SCADSAV) def. sophomore Karyna Sagalai/sophomore Alba Salinas (WWU), 8-4.
No. 1 singles: Gbaguidi (SCADSAV) def. Sagalai (WWU), 6-1, 6-0; No. 2: Shuraeva (WWU) def. Murdock (SCADSAV), 2-6, 6-4, 6-3; No. 3: Salinas (WWU) def. Rovira (SCADSAV), 2-6, 7-6, 6-3; No. 4: Steward (WWU) def. Weber (SCADSAV), 6-2, 7-6; No. 5: Cesar (WWU) def. Droop (SCADSAV), 2-6, 6-2, 6-3; No. 6: Albuquerque (SCADSAV) def. Mulder (WWU), 6-2, 6-0.
The Owls, making their first appearance at the national championships, had their eight-match winning streak halted Thursday. William Woods ended the season with a 15-6 record.
Here are the Owls' doubles and singles results from Thursday:
No. 1 doubles: Gilad Berman/Kevin Konfederak (GGC) def. senior David Barbieri/sophomore Stefan Simic (WWU), 8-1; No. 2: Jordan Cox/Connor Clements (GGC) def. freshman Oscar Barreiro/sophomore Johnnie Carmichael (WWU), 9-8 (7-4); No. 3: Federico Duran/Rafael Coutinho (GGC) def. sophomore Christian Barbieri/freshman Christopher Vleeming Ortiz (WWU), 8-5.
No. 5 singles: Duran (GGC) def. freshman Oscar Donker (WWU), 6-0, 6-0; No. 6: Coutinho (GGC) def. D. Barbieri (WWU), 6-0, 6-1.