COLUMBUS, Ga. — The defending Peach Belt Conference champions are headed back to the title match.
Alessandra Traub clinched the 4-3 match on court three to send third-seeded Flagler College past second-seeded the University of North Georgia at Columbus State University's John W. Walden Tennis Center Saturday. The Saints will now face top-ranked and host CSU at 10 a.m. It'll be a rematch of last season's PBC Tournament title match, where Flagler won its first PBC Championship of any kind.
No. 11 Flagler (16-6) took down eighth-ranked North Georgia (14-4) for the second time in as many weeks to put them in position for the crown. The doubles point has been the Saints' backbone all season long as eighth-ranked
Luisa Hrda and
Eden Schlagenhauf cruised to a bagel win for their fifth straight to jumpstart the energy.
The reliable duo of
Anika Nissen and Taub clinched the point — for their 13th win in a row — behind a 6-3 victory. Traub, Nissen and Hrda all took the momentum into singles as each won in straight sets to keep the Saints alive. Fifth-ranked Hrda was the first — for her ninth straight victory — to remain undefeated in PBC play as Nissen pocketed her 19th straight win to put the Saints ahead 3-1.
The Nighthawks won on courts two and five to make things interesting, but Traub took hold of the moment. Even when No. 60 Anna Markvartova battled back in set two to even the score at 5-all, Traub fought through the adversity to clinch the 4-3 win. In last year's NCAA Regional, Traub also clinched the match versus the Nighthawks to send the Saints to the regional final.
Now, Flagler has its eyes set on yet another PBC Tournament Championship title with another region run on the horizon.
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