Tennis Falls At NAIA National Tournament

The #8 Brenau tennis team's 2015 season came to a close at the NAIA National Championship quarterfinals with a 5-3 loss to #9 Northwood (Fla.) University on Wednesday in Mobile, Alabama.

After the teams split first two doubles matches, the pair of Maria Perdomo and Paula Rives staged an epic comeback at #2 doubles. Down 2-6, the duo rallied to win the match 9-8 and give the Golden Tigers a 2-1 lead going into singles play.

Junior Kelley Cohron opened singles play with a 6-1, 6-1 loss to Lola Garcia at #6, but Perdomo won her #2 match, 6-3, 6-3, to help keep the Brenau lead at 3-2. However, Northwood swept #3, 4 and 5 singles to secure the win and advance in the tournament to face defending NAIA national champions Georgia Gwinnett College.

"The NAIA tournament is a tough event," said head coach Andre Ferreira. "We had momentum coming out of doubles play, but we couldn't make it happen on the remaining courts. It was a great battle that took four hours to complete and we didn't go down without a fight. That's what I admire most about this team".

Brenau finishes the season 12-5 (10-1 SSAC) and is 26-14 all-time with 15 total appearances in the NAIA national tournament.

Brenau 3, Northwood 5

Doubles:

1. Berjane/Recalde (BU) def. Wood/Souki (NU) 8-2

2. Perdomo/Rives (BU) def. Thibaudat/Merlo (NU) 9-8(6)

3. Garcia/Toth (NU) def. Cohron/Bolivar (BU) 8-2

Singles:

1. Fatyha Berjane (BU) vs. Adelaide Wood (NU) 6-3, 4-2 DNF

2. Maria Perdomo (BU) def. Valentina Souki (NU) 6-3, 6-3

3. Mathilde Thibaudat (NU) def. Patricia Recalde (BU) 6-3, 6-1

4. Rocia Merlo (NU) def. Nathalia Bolivar (BU) 6-1, 6-2

5. Livia Toth (NU) def. Paula Rives (BU) 7-5, 7-5

6. Lola Garcia (NU) def. Kelley Cohron (BU) 6-1, 6-1

Order of finish: Doubles (3, 1, 2); Singles (6, 2, 4, 3, 5*)