ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – The No. 3 University of North Georgia women's tennis team has already made history. They've won more matches and gone further in the NCAA Tournament than any team before them. Yet, there's still opportunities ahead of the Nighthawks to forever etch their name not only into UNG history, but NCAA history.
On Thursday morning, UNG will face No. 2 Nova Southeastern in the 2024 NCAA Division II Women's Tennis Championship Semifinals.
With a 25-1 record this season, none of the four remaining teams in the NCAA Tournament have a better record than the Nighthawks. They reached the Final Four for the first time in program history after a thrilling 4-0 win over No. 28 Academy of Art on Tuesday.
Senior Valentina Ascarrunz and juniors Carolina Reis and Angelina Linnikova have already made historic marks individually.
On Tuesday, Ascarrunz and Reis picked up their program best 23rd doubles win of the season with a 6-1 victory in the #3 doubles spot to help UNG secure the early doubles point against the Urban Knights.
In singles, Linnikova tied the Nighthawk women's tennis record singles wins in a season as she won her match against No. 22 Amelija Supulniece 6-3, 6-0 for her 22nd victory of the year.
Now, the trio has a chance to extend UNG's historic run and make the program's first appearance in the National Championship. In order to do so, they'll have to take down last year's National Championship Runner Up.
In 2023, the Sharks lost 4-1 to Barry in what was their first ever appearance in the National Championship. This season, Nova has followed up that performance with another outstanding year.
The Sharks are ranked second in the country by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association and have held that ranking since Mar. 22, 2023; a whopping 61-week streak as the second best team in the nation.
Nova's play this season has been headlined by a trio of ITA ranked singles players. Graduate student Natalie Espinal is ranked as the No. 2 women's singles player in the country, holding an 18-3 record with a 6-1 record against nationally ranked opponents.
Espinal also makes up half of the No. 2 ranked doubles duo in the nation as her and fellow grad student Freya Davies have gone 21-2 as the #1 doubles for the Sharks this season.
Senior Alexandra Weir is ranked as the No. 18 singles player nationally for Nova. She holds a 23-12 record this season and has lost just once in her last seven matches.
Graduate student Lian Benedejcic rounds out the ranked performers for the Sharks this year as the No. 66 women's singles competitor in the country with a 22-4 record this season.
Nova is back in the Semifinals after a pair of 4-0 wins against No. 49 IUP and No. 21 Wayne State.
Thursday's match between the Nighthawks and Sharks will be just the second meeting all-time between the two programs. The last time they met was in a neutral site match in Valdosta, Ga. back in 2022. Nova took that match 6-1 over UNG.
The winner of Thursday's semifinal showdown earns a spot in the 2024 National Championship and a right to play the winner of No. 1 Barry and No. 8 Midwestern State. Barry is the six-time reigning champion in NCAA Division II women's tennis.
