Ladies lock 12th straight NCAA bid

The Lady Bobcats came out strong in the opening round of the Peach Belt Conference Tournament by beating Francis Marion, 5-2, but they finished fourth after losing to Armstrong Atlantic and University of South Carolina Upstate.

The Lady Bobcats tennis team, like the men’s team, achieved their goal of avenging a regular season loss to Francis Marion.

“I feel like we were all pumped up,” said sophomore Sofia Intraigo. “We lost to them 5-4 (early in the regular season). I was mad because we were 4-0 in the overall (standings) and it was my match that was the deciding match, and I lost in the third set.”

The Lady Bobcats’ 14-6 season record has still pretty much earned them a national bid to the NCAA Regional Tournament.

“The girls will get in the tournament for sure,” said Head Coach Steve Barsby last week before the tournament. “The girls have already pretty much qualified for it through the wins we’ve had throughout the year.”

Brad Muller, GCSU sports information director, said Barsby is right on track with his prediction of championship play to come.

Receiving the national bid is something that is a goal for the teams that Barsby coaches every year.

“Our goal is always to get to the national tournament,” said Barsby. “That’s something we always strive for.”

He said a season without a national bid can still be a good season, but one that isn’t fully fulfilled for the coaches and players. According to Barsby, this has become an expectation for both the men’s and women’s teams.

“We feel we’ve been at a point where (for the) last few years if we don’t get in (the national tournament), the season wasn’t as successful as we wanted it to be.”

The Lady Bobcats have been very successful in that area, securing a national tournament bid this season for the 12th straight time in as many consecutive years. But the Lady Bobcats feel that they have achieved other goals as well.

Anna Shchupak, the only senior on the team, is a player that Barsby said has done extremely well in her career at GCSU.

“Right now she’s ranked the highest she’s ever been, since she’s been in college. She’s No. 13 in the country right now,” Barsby said. “We’ve gotten to the point now where we’re used to the winning and we’re used to the national tournament and the success of going to it every year, but our goal is to get farther and farther every year.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 21 2006. 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