By Sarah Woodall
It was quite the weekend for Kennesaw State club tennis, as they finished seventh out of the 52 teams that competed in the United States Tennis Association’s Southern Championship at Auburn University on Feb. 23-24. Despite a long rain delay in the early rounds, KSU managed to look past the challenging court conditions and put forth a solid performance in both the BCS and non-BCS brackets for the weekend. With match play consisting of doubles and singles play, KSU’s A-team defeated Clemson 18-12 overall, defeated LSU 14-11 overall, and lost to Kentucky 22-19 overall on Saturday. On Sunday, the A-team was one win away from qualifying for Nationals, but came up short against the University of Georgia 28-22. KSU-A team then wrapped up the tournament weekend with a feel good victory over tournament host Auburn University 26-21 on Sunday. KSU’s B-team had a good run as well, defeating Auburn-D 20-19 overall and LSU-C 17-14 overall. KSU-B also had an opportunity for a Nationals bid with a spot in the Championship bracket, but fell short to UNC-D 30-9 overall on Saturday night. KSU-B team eventually finished tournament play in seventh.
Despite not coming home with the Southern Championship title, KSU club tennis is already looking forward with their heads held high. They will be competing in the Atlanta Slam tournament at the Sandy Springs Tennis Center in Atlanta, Ga. April 6-7 and could still qualify for the USTA Tennis on Campus National Championship by default. With so much accomplished in only two tournaments this season, the third time could be the charm for this young team.
