Columbus, Ga.----The Wingate University women’s tennis team (21-1 overall) is making its first visit to the NCAA Division II play-offs in the five-year tenure of current head coach Michael Cabana. The number 32 Bulldogs will face number 12 Clayton State (Ga.) University (15-7 overall) Monday at the Mary V. Blackmon Tennis Center on the campus of Columbus State University (1 p.m. first serve). Cabana saw potential in his 2011 team from the beginning.

“I knew this team possessed great potential when we started the season with a win at (number 29) Augusta State,” Cabana says. “The ASU match was our first match of the spring season…and our first win over a ranked opponent in my five years.”

Wingate won the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference tournament for the first time in school history, earning the league’s automatic qualification to the NCAA dance. The SAC regular season champion Bulldogs have qualified for the NCAA tournament nine times; the 2011 appearance is the team’s first tourney since 2003. Wingate enters the NCAA tournament on a 19-match winning streak.

Cabana believes there is more than one factor contributing to Wingate’s 2011 successes. “We were strong throughout our line-up from top to bottom,” Cabana says. “We had kids who fought for every match.”

Every good team has a leader. Cabana believes the leadership of senior Kara Stasikelis (Greer, S.C.) over a very young team (three freshmen in the top four) plays a crucial role. “Kara has been the foundation of this program since I arrived,” Cabana says. “She was the first player I signed…she arrived on campus and played number one from day one.”

“I have seen Kara grow each year,” Cabana says. “Her dedication to becoming a dependable number one player for our team is commendable. At the beginning of the year, I think Kara understood this team had great potential. This realization drove her to have her best season ever.”

Stasikelis’ fingerprints will be evident for years to come, as she mentored Wingate’s freshman trio of Ali Evers (Roswell, Ga.), Morgan Winston (Lawrenceville, Ga.) and Olivia Poole (Boca Raton, Fla.). Evers was the 2011 SAC Freshman of the Year, playing number two singles and doubles for the Bulldogs. The trio joined Stasikelis as All-SAC performers. Poole lost only one singles match during the regular season.

“The freshman class was the reason we were so strong from top to bottom,” Cabana says. “They are a talented group of young ladies who will continue to improve year in and year out. They were responsible for many victories this season.”

Every player on the seven-person roster contributes. Sophomore Kelli Ferguson (Concord, N.C.) was the MVP of the 2011 Food Lion SAC tournament; she has won 14 singles matches in a row entering the NCAA tournament. Classmate Helen Goreski (Oakville, Ontario) has 17 singles victories, including 14-1 ledger at number six. Junior Samantha Alschlager (Indian Trail, N.C.) has won 18 doubles matches (with Evers) at the number two slot. She shares the team leader with her partner, as both players have contributed to 19 doubles victories this season.

The 2011 season has not been all work and no play. Cabana believes his team has cultivated its own identity. “I think one of the funniest things I have noticed this year…is the players have begun to speak in abbreviations,” Cabana says. “Our team has developed its own language that the coach has not quite caught up to yet. I must say…it is funny to hear them talk to each other. I guess it has become a texting way of speaking.”

NCAA NOTES

>General information: The Columbus site is one of two Southeast Region venues. The host and number two seed Columbus State University Cougars (16-5 overall) will play number seven seed Augusta State University (13-11 overall) Monday. Wingate is the number six seed, while Clayton State is the number three seed. The Southeast Region #2 championship match is slated for Tuesday at 1 p.m. (also at Columbus State’s Mary V. Blackmon Tennis Center). The winner of the Columbus regional will advance to the NCAA Division II Sweet 16, May 11-14 in Altamonte Springs, Fla.

>History: The Bulldogs advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen in 1996, defeating St. Andrews Presbyterian College (4-2) and Elon University (4-1) to take their first (and only) trip to the championship site. The University of North Florida ended Wingate’s 1996 run with a 4-0 victory in Edmond, Okla. The Bulldogs earned at-large bids to the NCAA Division II tournament in 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2003.

>Academics: The Wingate women’s tennis team is one of the top academic squads in NCAA Division II. The 2010 team compiled a 3.495 team GPA. A Capital One Academic All-America® candidate, Ferguson possesses a perfect 4.000 GPA as a Chemistry major. Both Stasikelis and Alschlager joined Ferguson as 2010 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Scholar-Athletes.

WINGATE UNIVERSITY

Founded in 1896, Wingate University is a private comprehensive university with more than 2,300 students on two campuses in Wingate and Matthews, North Carolina. The university offers 32 undergraduate majors, 36 minors and career concentrations, numerous pre-professional programs, graduate degrees in business, accounting, physician assistant studies and sports administration and doctorates in pharmacy and education.

Wingate students gain the tools and support they need to excel in academics and apply that learning toward an extraordinary career and life. The campus community offers in-class learning, out-of-class experiences, strong mentors, a competitive yet caring environment and rewarding community service opportunities for a complete educational experience.

Bulldog student-athletes compete in 19 NCAA Division II sports. Wingate University has won the South Atlantic Conference Echols Athletic Excellence Award for the past five years.

Wingate University is ranked number three among NCAA Division II Academic All-America® producing schools in the 2000’s with 38 honorees during this millennium. Only Pittsburg State (Kan.) University and Truman State (Mo.) University have produced more Academic All-America® honorees during this time period. Wingate’s 47 Academic All-America® honorees (lifetime) is tops among all SAC schools.