Women’s Tennis Set to Compete in its Ninth Straight CACC Tournament

Women's Tennis | 10/17/2016 12:00:00 AM

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A Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament with a very different feel for Goldey-Beacom is on tap with the squad looking to fulfill some lofty goals.

GBC is in the semifinals on Saturday at 10:00 am and will face the winner of Tuesday's first-round match between fourth-seeded University of the Sciences and No. 5 seed Philadelphia U. The winner of that semifinal takes on the winner of the second semifinal between No. 2 seed Wilmington (DE) and third-seeded Post in the final Sunday at 1:00 pm.

The semifinals and final will take place on the campus of Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia. The conference champion earns an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, which begins in late April.

The Lightning's ninth straight trip to the conference tournament features the squad as the top seed for the first time in school history. The 7-0 conference record is the best in team history and the 7-0 overall mark entering the week is the best since opening a team-record 8-0 in 2010-11.

GBC once again has received exceptional play from senior Nina Sengl (Puchheim, Germany), whose leadership and solid play has catapulted her to a 7-0 singles record and a 7-0 mark at first doubles. The league's Student-Athlete of the Month for September, Sengl last year received the conference's Women's Tennis Top XV Award for having the best GPA among those participating at the league championship.

Sengl enters the week with 40 doubles wins that put her fourth in school history and 38 singles victories that are good for fifth in team annals.

Sengl shares her doubles record with senior Francesca Beg (Westbury, England), who also has had a solid run with the Lightning. She has a 6-1 singles record this fall, including 3-0 at second singles.

It was Beg who in 2015 won the clinching match against Chestnut Hill that secured Goldey-Beacom's 5-3 victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the first such head-to-head win by any team in school history. GBC ended that season ranked 31st in the country and with a school-record 18 victories.

Freshmen also have played a big part in the Lightning's success this season. Alma Garcia Valle (Valladolid, Spain) sports a 7-0 singles mark that includes 4-0 at fourth singles and has teamed with Silvia Hortelano Pey (Castelldefels, Spain) to amass a 6-0 record at third doubles. The latter also is 7-0 in singles with a 4-0 mark at No. 6 singles.

Anna Hortelano Pey (Castelldefels, Spain) has a 5-1 singles mark that includes 4-0 at No. 2 singles and Lea Schmuecker (Marburg, Germany) is 3-1 at first singles.

Goldey-Beacom is in search of its first CACC title. It advanced to the final in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2014.

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