ATLANTA--The No. 52-ranked Georgia State women's
tennis team begins the first of seven consecutive road matches to close the
regular season with a 10 a.m. match on Saturday at Winthrop.
Georgia
State (5-6) is looking to build momentum towards two important road matches
during the Georgia State University spring break from Mar. 17-23. The Panthers
take on two nationally-ranked teams in No. 70-ranked South Florida on Mar. 17
and No. 17-ranked Clemson on Mar. 19.
This
Saturday's match is the third meeting between GSU and Winthrop all-time with
each school owning a victory in the series.
"Winthrop
is a very good team, they might not be in the national rankings right now but
they tend to be in and out of them," sixth-year head coach Miha Lisac said. "They
are a regular participant at the NCAA Tournament because they often win their
conference championship. They are a tough team that fits into our schedule
which features a lot of tough opponents."
Junior
Abigail Tere-Apisah earned her second Sun Belt Player of the Week award this
week. She, along with GSU men's tennis senior Victor Valente, helped Georgia State
tennis sweep the Sun Belt weekly awards for the second time this season.
Tere-Apisah went 2-0 in singles and doubles matches last week. She notched her
ninth singles victory overall and her fifth against a nationally-ranked singles
opponent this spring. She defeated Tulane's No. 102-ranked Klara Vyskocilova
6-3, 7-5 last Sunday and Kennesaw State's Virginie Stein 6-4, 7-6 (9-7) on
Friday.
Several
Panthers are looking to build on winning streaks in singles play this weekend.
Tere-Apisah is currently riding a six-match winning streak dating back to a
6-0, 6-0 win on Feb. 16 against UCF's Genevieve Lorbergs. Senior Maryna
Kozachenko has won three-consecutive singles matches at the No. 6 position.
Fellow senior Whitney Byrd has won back-to-back matches, both in straight sets.
Finally, sophomore Chaimaa Roudami has also won back-to-back matches in
straight sets.
Winthrop
is 5-7 this season and has faced six nationally-ranked opponents. The Eagles
narrowly lost 4-3 to No. 48-ranked Penn State and No. 73 NC State this season.
The team, led by 27th-year head coach Cid Carvalho, has nine
student-athletes on the roster that represent seven different countries. Senior
Yasmine Alkema, from Algiers, Algeria, leads the team at the No. 1 spot with a
6-5 singles record. Freshman Alice Garcia, from Brasilia, Brazil, has stepped
in and delivered an 8-4 mark in singles play. Also sporting an 8-4 record while
playing in the No. 3 and 4 slots is senior Giovanna Portioli from
Curritaba,Brazil.
Check
the Georgia State women's tennis page on GeorgiaStateSports.com for a full
recap of the match along with a box score. Follow the women's tennis team on
Twitter at "@GSUWTennis" for live results from the match.
www.GeorgiaStateSports.com
