Tennis Cruises into AAC Finals; Will Face SCAD-Atlanta

Chattanooga, Tn. - The #10 Brenau tennis team swept Tennessee Wesleyan (RV) 5-0 in the semifinals of the 2019 Appalachian Athletic Conference tournament on Friday.

Playing indoors at The Baylor School due to inclement weather, the Golden Tigers once again used strong doubles play to take an early 3-0 advantage. At #3 doubles, the pairing of Juana Zambrano and Valentina Pabon won the first match 8-1, and then the #1 team of Peeraya Charoensirisutthikul and Rebecca Pijls defeated Arianna Pelletti and Elisa Piquero 8-4. At #2 doubles, Evelin Gouveia and Kirsten Dickins bested the Bulldogs' Haruka Hirata and Yvette Callaghan 8-4 to sweep doubles play.

In singles competition, sophomore Peeraya Charoensirisutthikul cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 straight set victory over Helena Cabezas to give the Golden Tigers a 4-0 lead, then freshman Juana Zambrano clinched the team win by defeating Haruka Hirata 6-0, 6-1.

"I was pleased with our doubles," said head coach Andre Ferreira. "When the doubles matches were tense and games were close, our players did a good job focusing on the strategy and not on the score or momentum. This helped us handle the tricky moments well and eventually we built comfortable leads on all three doubles courts. It was huge to start singles with a 3-0 lead."

"We are looking forward to the challenge in the finals and grateful for earning the opportunity to fight for a conference championship again."

The top seeded Golden Tigers will face the third-seed SCAD Atlanta (10-9) in the finals on Saturday. The #22 ranked Bees upset #13 Union 5-4 in the other semifinal match.

Brenau University (Ga.) def. Tennessee Wesleyan 5-0
Saturday 9:00 AM

The following changes were made:
S1: Elisa Piquero vs. Rebecca Pijls Unfinished 6-3, 1-1
S2: Peeraya Charoensirisutthikul def. Helena Cabezas 6-1, 6-1
S3: Juana Zambrano def. Haruka Hirata 6-0, 6-1
S4: Yvette Callaghan vs. Kirsten Dickins Unfinished 4-6, 4-1
S5: Arianna Pelletti vs. Evelin Gouveia Scheduled
S6: Mandy Watters vs. Valentina Pabon Scheduled

D1: Peeraya Charoensirisutthikul / Rebecca Pijls def. Arianna Pelletti / Elisa Piquero 8-4
D2: Evelin Gouveia / Kirsten Dickins def. Haruka Hirata / Yvette Callaghan 8-4
D3: Juana Zambrano / Valentina Pabon def. Helena Cabezas / Mandy Watters 8-1

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