Women’s tennis ranked 13th in the Division II

Georgia College & State University’s women’s tennis team is ranked 13th in the nation, according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association NCAA Division II Collegiate Tennis Rankings released earlier this month.

“This was a little disappointing. We thought the ranking might be higher, but the teams that are ahead of us are teams in our region, so we’ll have to wait and see if the ranking was right,” said Bobcat Head Coach Steve Barsby.

GC&SU is one of five Peach Belt Conference women’s tennis teams ranked in the top 15 in the national poll, along with Armstrong Atlantic State University who is ranked second, Clayton State University is 10th and in 11th is North Florida University while Columbus State University is ranked 12th.

Defending national champion Brigham Young University in Hawaii are tops in the polls again.

“The girls’ team has the potential to keep an outstanding ranking all season,” said Barsby. “The girls have a chance for some big things this season. If they play like they did in the fall, things will be really good.”

GC&SU sophomore Luiza Biktyakova is ranked 14th in the nation in singles and third in the region.

“Luiza lived up to all expectations, she was great. After winning her region, Luiza has shown some great things in her first semester here at GC&SU,” said Barsby.

Sophomore Annika Persson is ranked 19th nationally and fifth in the region. Freshman Mia Paavilainen is currently nationally ranked 23rd and sixth overall in the region. Freshman Caroline Lefevre is ranked 44th in the nation and 10 in the region.

“This is a good region but these girls should be ready for the challenge,” said Barsby.

Biktyakova and Paavilainen are ranked second nationally in doubles and are first in the region.

“The two of them have a chance to be the best team in the nation and for that matter their region too. But this region is a difficult one, and by the end of the season we’ll know just how good they are,” said Barbsy.

Persson and Lefevre are also ranked eighth in the region.

The men are currently unranked in the poll, but Barsby feels positive about his teams’ chances of getting into the rankings.

“This was the first year in a long time that the guys have not been ranked in the poll, but I think they are up to the challenge,” said Barsby. “I think we play 16 of the current 32 teams in the rankings, so the opportunity is there for the guys to improve and only get better.”

The Bobcat’s tennis teams open the 2003 season Saturday at 1:00.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Feb 14 2003. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry