No. 4 Women set to take on familiar foe Flagler in first round of NCAA tourney
Even though the Georgia College women’s tennis team suffered a tough loss to No. 12 Clayton State in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament on April 15, which put their regular season to an end, they have been selected to compete in the NCAA Regional Tournament.
“This year was one of those years where it was just a good atmosphere for the guys and girls. The girls competed unbelievably hard,” Head Coach Steve Barsby said. “We weren’t the most talented team in the Peach Belt but got a bunch of results that we probably shouldn’t have got and they’re being rewarded with probably a pretty good seed in the regionals.”
Vanessa Whited | gcsunade.comSophomore Kayla Barksdale was chosen for the All-Peach Belt Conference team along with senior teammate Bertille Lion.
The Bobcats will play their first regional match against known opponent No. 5 Flagler College at 2 p.m.
“I’m pretty happy because we might play against Francis Marion in addition to Flagler,” senior marketing major Bertille Lion said. “We beat Flagler and we lost by four against Francis Marion so that would be a good chance to beat them this time.”
From the Georgia College women’s team, two players were selected to be on the All-Peach Belt Conference Team.
Lion and sophomore undeclared major Kayla Barksdale were chosen to represent the Bobcats on the All-PBC Team.
Barsby knows the hard work and dedication the selected players put into their tennis this season.
“They had a good year and in our conference if you get picked for that obviously the coaches feel you’ve had a good year, you’re a nationally recognized player so we’re very excited about that for all of them,” Barsby said.
Lion was selected for two PBC awards: PBC Second Team Singles and PBC Second Team Doubles.
“It’s been tough to be No. 1 so I’m glad that I found a way to get there and beat people that were ranked better than me,” Lion said.
This is Lion’s second time being selected for doubles and her first time for singles.
This All-Peach Belt Conference selection was the first PBC honor for Barksdale.
“We have learned that nothing is impossible and you should believe that you can beat someone and if you work at it, you’re going to make it happen,” Lion said.
At first singles in the 2011 season, Lion is 11-11 and a PBC record of 5-5.
The doubles pair of Lion and Barksdale are 14-7 and a 6-5 record in the league.
“Results are the most important factor to get selected for the All-Peach-Belt Team. If you’re not beating anyone then no one’s voting for you,” Barsby said. “So in our conference with the tough schedule obviously our kids have beaten enough players to where the coaches respect them so that’s what they look it. Most tennis players are good kids anyway but they’re looking at results.”
Going into regionals, the No. 4 Bobcats have an overall record of 16-8 with a conference record of 8-4.
“This year was one of those years where it was just a good atmosphere for the guys and girls,” Barsby said.
“With both teams, the thing they’ve probably taken from this season is that in an individual sport it doesn’t who you’re playing you can win. You can figure it out and you can win. If they compete hard they’re going to have a shot in whatever they do. ”
As the Georgia College women’s tennis team heads off to Flagler in Savannah in the Regional Tournament, Barsby knows that they have been working extremely hard this season.
“We’re competing very hard. The girls and guys both every time they go out no matter if we’re playing a team that’s 200 in the country or No. 1 in the country they think they can win,” Barsby said. “They give it everything they’ve got so that been real positive the last part of this year.”
Posted by 
