The reward for the North Carolina Wesleyan University tennis program sweeping the men’s and women’s division of the USA South Conference this spring is it gets to host the conference championship tournament.
The Bishop women (8-0) and men (6-0) are the top seeds for their respective divisions as the single-elimination event began on Tuesday at the higher-seeded teams.
Wesleyan’s women, the top seed in their division, improved to 10-6 overall with a 5-0 triumph over No. 8 seed William Peace University (2-12 overall) at the Slick Family Foundation Tennis Center.
The Bishops handed WPU a 9-0 defeat in Raleigh back in March, and this result was another shutout — the fifth for Wesleyan in league play this season.
The match started with doubles, where Wesleyan took both events played.
Wesleyan’s No. 1 duo of Elisa Mariotti (junior from Rome, Italy) and Cristina Mendoza Romero (junior from Genoa, Italy) outlasted the WPU team of Kala Price and Camryn Straughn 8-5.
The Bishops’ No. 2 pairing of sophomore Bethan Fothergill (Ipswitch, UK) and sophomore Andrea Elaez Miranda (Lima, Peru) eased past Haley George and Mya Sampson 8-0.
Wesleyan claimed the No. 3 match (freshman Ivanna Torres of Boca del Rio, Mexico and freshman Ajla Selimovic of Kapfenberg, Austria) by forfeit.
In singles, Wesleyan’s No. 6 Linda Nhiwatiwa (junior from Beaumont Hills, Wales) won by forfeit, and Fothergill clinched the team victory by defeating Sampson 6-1, 6-0 at No. 3 singles.
The match was stopped once the Bishops reached five victories, thus the No. 1 singles (Price vs. Mendoza Romero), No. 2 singles (Elaez Miranda vs. Straughn), No. 4 singles (Torres vs. George) and No. 5 singles (Selimovic vs. Durham) events were recorded as unfinished. Wesleyan was ahead in all but one of those events when play was stopped.
The Bishops have a 10-1 record against the Pacers from 2012-this season. That includes an eight-match win streak with the lone loss coming in 2014.
Wesleyan will host No. 4 seed Pfeiffer at 10 a.m. on Friday in the tournament semifinals. Pfeiffer (15-3 overall) advanced with a 5-3 victory over Brevard (8-8) in the first round.
Pfeiffer lost 8-1 to Wesleyan during the regular season.
No. 2 seed Southern Virginia plays No. 3 seed Methodist (10-6) in the other semifinal. Methodist advanced with a 5-0 win over No. 6 seed Salem College (6-10) in the first round.
Men host Brevard
The North Carolina Wesleyan men’s tennis team, also the top seed (6-0 USAS), had a first-round bye and will play host to No. 4 seed Brevard at 2 p.m. on Friday in the tournament semifinals at the Slick Family Foundation Tennis Center.
Brevard advanced to the semifinals with a 5-3 victory over No. 5 seed Southern Virginia on Tuesday. It is the first postseason win for the Tornados since 2010-11.
Wesleyan already owns a 9-0 win over Brevard during the regular season.
The other first-round match featured No. 6 seed William Peace University at No. 3 seed Methodist on Wednesday, with the winner facing No. 2 seed Pfeiffer in the semifinals on Friday.
The Bishops will go into the semifinals with a 14-8 overall record. That includes five shutouts in conference play.
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