DAHLONEGA – Entering Saturday's regional showdown against fourth-seeded and No. 11 Columbus State, the No. 3 University of North Georgia women's tennis team had an all-time record of 2-20 against the Cougars. At 22-1 this season, CSU handed UNG its only loss of the year back in April. However, The Nighthawks got the last laugh, taking down the Cougars in a thrilling 4-3 victory at the UNG Tennis Complex at Yahoola Creek. 

UNG advances to the 2024 NCAA Division II Tennis Championships on May 20-25 at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Fla. as part of the NCAA Division II Spring Festival hosted by Rollins College and the Greater Orlando Sports Commission.

The appearance in the Round of 16 marks the third such performance in program history and UNG's first since 2019. However, early in the match Saturday, that feat appeared to be in jeopardy. 

CSU took the #1 and #2 doubles matches to command an early 1-0 lead in the match. While losing the doubles point was something UNG had only previously done twice before this season, coming back from such a deficit was a familiar spot for the Nighthawks. 

In the Peach Belt Conference Tournament Championship, UNG suffered a doubles loss to Flagler before storming back and winning the program's first PBC Tournament title. 

The Nighthawks quickly pulled in front with wins in the #5 and #6 singles. Senior Valentina Ascarrunz, who clinched the aforementioned PBC title with her #6 singles win over Flagler, ended her match against CSU's Yelena Labat with a speedy 6-1, 6-2 victory. Ascarrunz is now 20-2 in singles play this season, making her the third Nighthawk singles player with 20 wins on the year. 

Minutes later, senior Svetlana Teterina took down the Cougars' Agostina Bigott 6-4, 6-3 in the #5 spot. Teterina has been a consistent force as the #5 singles competitor in the lineup of late for head coach Kent Norsworthy. She's racked up four straight wins and her victory Saturday put UNG back up 2-1 in the match. 

Laura Pesickova found a  6-3, 2-6, 6-2 win in the #3 singles match over UNG senior Johanna Lippert to even the match. 

Junior Ashley Moinard then defeated her opponent in the #4 singles contest in comeback, pulling the Nighthawks within clinching distance. Moinard dropped the first set to CSU's Isadora Oliveira Marcondes 5-7. She rebounded with convincing 6-1, 6-2 wins to steal the match. The match is reminiscent of Moinard's remarkably impressive singles season this year. 

It started with a loss back on Feb. 7 in her first match of the season. Since then, Moinard has won 20 of 21 singles matches, holding a 20-2 record which currently stands as one of the best individual seasons in program history. She hasn't lost a match since Mar. 23, winning 11 straight in that span. Her win Saturday made it 3-2 in favor of UNG in the match overall, with the #1 and #2 singles competitions still live. 

Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) women's singles No. 30 Nikoline Gullacksen of CSU evened the match at 3-3 with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 win over Nighthawk senior Viktorie Wojcikova in the #2 spot. 

It was only fitting that the win or go home match would come down to a decisive #1 singles battle. 

It has not been easy sledding for UNG against the Cougars historically. It took 16 years of competition before the Nighthawks grabbed their first ever win against CSU in 2022. Last year, the Cougars ended UNG's season in the second round of the regional tournament. Getting over the hump this year would not be easy either. 

As players and coaches from both teams anxiously looked on, ITA No. 10 Angelina Linnikova went back and forth with CSU graduate student Mariana Ramirez. 

By the time all other singles matches had finished, Ramirez had taken the first set 7-5 before Linnikova answered with a 6-3 win in the second set. Everyone bit their nails as the match went to a final third set. 

Linnikova got in front early in the first three games with a 2-1 lead. Ramirez would not go quietly, hanging with Linnikova step-by-step as the set continued. In the middle stages, Linnikova took a 5-3 lead before Ramirez pulled within a game at 5-4. 

Ramirez held serve as she needed to win the 10th game of the set to force a tiebreaker. After a short rally on the first point, she batted one into the net, giving Linnikova a 15-0 lead. 

Linnikova sailed the next rally wide left, tying things up at 15-15. 

Trying to put the pressure on Ramirez, Linnikova charged the net in the next point but was caught out of position as Ramirez slipped it past her to go up 30-15. Linnikova then moved Ramirez all over the court in the next point, forcing a lobbed return from the grad student which she rifled past to make it 30-30. 

Ramirez's return in the next rally sailed long and put Linnikova up 40-30. The Nighthawks could smell the victory. 

The final point of the match was not an easy one. Ramirez served and Linnikova returned. Ramirez fired back and Linnikova returned again. The two shared a 13-shot rally before Linnikova put the nail in the coffin with a masterful shot. After sending Ramirez to her backhand on consecutive shots, Linnikova doubled down once more and rifled a shot to Ramirez's left a third straight time. The only issue was, Ramirez wasn't ready. Sliding to her right, Ramirez watched the ball sail past her as Linnikova's teammates let out a roar. They stormed onto the court to celebrate with the junior who has been the team's trailblazer all season long. At 21-3 in singles play, Linnikova has already secured arguably the greatest singles season in UNG women's tennis history. 

Her win Saturday is another feather in her cap and one that she'll be surely proud of as it sends the Nighthawks to Orlando, Fla. for the 2024 NCAA Division II Tennis Championships next week.