Columbus St. Defeats Wingate in NCAA Women's Tennis Regional

COLUMBUS, Ga. - The No. 6 Columbus State women's tennis team (21-3 overall) defeated No. 49 Wingate 5-0 in the first round of the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Sunday morning at the Mary V. Blackmon Tennis Center. Wingate concludes its 2013 SAC championship season 19-6 overall. CSU will play the winner of the Francis Marion-Erskine Sunday afternoon semi-final in Monday's regional title tilt.

The Cougars swept through doubles action to take a 3-0 lead. The nation's seventh-ranked doubles team of Paola Cigui and Carolin Weikard defeated the Wingate duo of junior Ali Evers (Roswell, Ga.) and sophomore Becca Thomas (Alpharetta, Ga.) 8-1. Laura Chapman and Olivera Jokic won 8-3 at number two doubles over Wingate senior Kelli Ferguson (Concord, N.C.) and junior Morgan Winston (Lawrenceville, Ga.). An 8-2 victory from Renata Paiva and Andrea Redrado against freshman Caroline Holland (Spartanburg, S.C.) and sophomore Tiffany Williams (Cary, N.C.) made it 3-0 heading to singles action.

Cigui, the second-ranked singles player in the nation, defeated Evers 6-1, 6-2 at number one singles. Weikard, ranked 44th, clinched the CSU victory with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Holland in number two singles. The Cougars won the first set in the other four matches, with Williams and Ferguson each taking three games in the first set at five and six singles, respectively. Williams had a 2-1 lead in number five singles when her match was stopped.

The Bulldogs had another impressive season in 2013, winning their third straight SAC regular season title while also winning a third consecutive SAC Tournament championship. Wingate went undefeated in conference play for the second time in three years. The Bulldogs are 26-1 in league play over the last three seasons, while going 32-1 against SAC opponents overall since 2011. This marked the third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance for Wingate.

- Wingate Media Relations