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Women’s Winners & Losers – Week of April 16-22

by | Apr 24, 2018 | Blog | 0 comments

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Twelve automatic bids went out last week on the women’s side, eleven conference tournaments and the Ivy League, with the top seed winning seven conference tournaments and the two seed winning the other four. Below are last week’s big winners and further below are the teams that were last week’s biggest losers. 

Vanderbilt – the Commodores won the SEC Championship for the second year in a row, third time in the last four years, with a 4-0 win over the second seed Florida. VU junior Fernanda Contreras clinched the match with a dominating 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 2. The top seeds defeated Texas A&M 4-1 in the quarterfinals and Ole Miss 4-1 in the semifinals. 

  

Tulsa – the Golden Hurricane won the American Athletic Conference Championship for the third time in the last four years with a 4-0 win over the No. 5 seed and host SMU. Tulsa, which was the No. 2 seed, defeated Memphis 4-1 in the quarterfinals and Wichita State 4-2 in the semifinals. The top seed, UCF, was knocked out in the semifinals in a 4-3 nail-biter to SMU.  

 

 

North Florida – the Ospreys won the Atlantic Sun Championship for the fourth year in a row, sixth time in the last seven years, with a 4-1 win over the No. 4 seed Stetson. UNF freshman Florencia Rossi provided the clincher at No. 6 with a come from behind 0-6, 6-3, 6-1 win. UNF got a bye into the semifinals and then defeated Lipscomb 4-0 while Stetson knocked out the top seed Florida Gulf Coast 4-3 in the other semifinal. 
 

 
Winthrop – the top seeded Eagles won the Big South Conference Championship for the third year in a row, 17th time in the last 20 years, and 20th time overall, with a 4-3 win over the No. 2 seed Liberty. WU sophomore Alisa Soloveva won the deciding match 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 at No. 2. singles. Winthrop posted shutout wins over Longwood and Presbyterian in the quarterfinals and semifinals. 
 

 
William & Mary – the top seeded Tribe won their fourth straight Colonial Athletic Association Championship, 26th overall, with a 4-0 win over the No. 2 seed James Madison. W&M sophomore Natalia Perry clinched the title with a 7-5, 7-6 win at No. 2. The overall match was much closer than the 4-0 score with four of six singles matches going three sets. The Tribe’s path to the championship included a 4-0 win over Towson and a 4-2 win over Elon. 
 

 
 
Florida International – the top seeded Panthers won their first Conference USA Championship with a close 4-3 win over the No. 2 seed Rice. FIU junior Maryna Veksler won the deciding match 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 at No. 4 singles. FIU cruised through its first two matches defeating Charlotte 4-0 and Middle Tennessee State 5-0. 
 
 

 
LIU Brooklyn – the top seeded Blackbirds won their second straight Northeast Conference Championship, fourth overall, with a 4-1 win over the No. 2 seed Bryant. LIU junior Clemence Krug clinched the title with a 6-2, 7-5 win at No. 6. LIU’s path to the title included shutout wins over St. Francis Brooklyn and Fairleigh Dickinson. 
 

 
Eastern Kentucky – the top seeded Colonels capped off their final season as a program by winning the Ohio Valley Conference Championship with a 4-3 win over the No. 3 seed Austin Peay. With just four indoor courts available due to rain, EKU trailed 3-2 as the final two matches at No. 5 and No. 6 singles got fired up. EKU junior Margaux Lacroix won 6-3, 6-2 at No. 6 and sophomore Lisa Friess clinched the title with a 7-6, 6-0 win at No. 5.
 

 
Furman – the top seeded Paladins won their second consecutive Southern Conference Championship, and 18th overall, with a 4-1 win over the No. 2 seed East Tennessee State. Neither team dropped a point in the quarterfinals and semifinals but Furman took control in the final by taking the doubles point and five first sets in singles. Furman sophomore Katarina Kozarov clinched the match at No. 1 with a 7-5, 6-4 win.  
 

 
Georgia State – the second seeded Panthers won their second Sun Belt Conference Championship in the last three years with a 4-2 win over the No. 4 seed South Alabama. GSU senior Kristin Rehse clinched the title with a 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 win at No. 1 in a match that was played indoors about 25 miles from GSU’s campus. Rehse also clinched GSU’s 4-3 win over Appalachian State in the quarterfinals while junior Daniela Ramirez clinched the Panthers 4-3 semifinal win over Louisiana Monroe.  
 
 
Army – the second seeded Black Knights won their first Patriot League Championship since 2013 by defeating the top seed Navy 4-2. Army freshman Ana Joyner clinched the title with a 6-3, 7-6 win at No. 1 while sophomore Danna Funaro clinched the 4-3 win over four-time defending champion Boston U in the semifinals. 
 

 
 
Princeton – the Tigers won the Ivy League for the fourth time in five years, 14th overall, after defeating Harvard and Dartmouth over the weekend. Princeton went undefeated in Ivy League play for the second time in the last four years. 
 
 
Clemson – the Tigers picked up a big 4-3 road win over Virginia which has put them in serious contention for a NCAA at-large bid. Clemson will have a chance to lock up a bid on Thursday when it plays NC State in the ACC Tournament. 
 
UCLA – the Bruins should be a lock to host a regional after picking up a 4-3 win over Pepperdine and a 4-0 win over USC. Against Pepperdine, UCLA took the doubles point but then dropped the opening set on five of six courts. Pepperdine closed three of them out in straight sets to go in front 3-1 but UCLA’s Ena Shibahara, Jada Hart, and Alaina Miller won in three sets with Shibahara clinching at No. 1. 
 
LSU – the Tigers were sitting firmly on the bubble but after a 4-3 win over Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament they should be good to go. 
  

Women’s Losers

Kansas State finished the regular season on a four-match losing streak after falling at home to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. The Wildcats will most likely need to upset Texas Tech on Friday in the Big XII Tournament to have a chance at an at-large bid. 

Washington State dropped its third straight and fourth in the last five matches after falling 5-2 to state-rival Washington. A few weeks ago the Cougars were in good shape to make the NCAAs but now they’ll need to beat Cal and probably Stanford in the Pac-12 Tournament to move up enough. 

 

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