Women's Tennis | 4/24/2016 1:02:00 PM

Brevard, N.C.----The Queens University of Charlotte women's tennis team swept the doubles and won two singles to take a 5-2 triumph over Wingate University in the South Atlantic Conference tournament championship match at the Brevard Tennis Center on the campus of Brevard College. With the victory, Queens (14-3 overall) earns an automatic qualification to the NCAA Division II tournament. SAC regular season champion Wingate (16-6 overall) will wait to hear about a potential at-large berth.

The Royals swept the doubles after the Bulldogs had won two of the three doubles matches in Wingate's 5-4 regular season victory over Queens. The Royal combo of Marta Gonzalez and Caroline Nielsen started things with an 8-3 victory over Wingate freshman Claudia De Andreis (Milan, Italy) and sophomore Maria Garcia (San Carlos, Cojedes, Venezuela) at the number two doubles flight.

Wingate's number one doubles team of junior Andrea Ternera (Bogota, Colombia) and sophomore Oroma Womeodu (Memphis, Tenn.) led 7-5 before the Queens duo of Carlotta Nassi and Melissa Laing claimed a 9-8 (7-2) victory. In the number three position, Wingate's pairing of junior Layla Tanik (Raleigh, N.C.) and freshman Sydney Homan (Huntsville, Ala.) rallied from down 4-1 to tie the match 7-7 before falling 9-7 to the Queens team of Claire Hamilton and Hannah Lehfeldt.

Tanik got the Bulldogs on the board with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Hamilton in the number three singles match. Tanik is 17-3 overall in singles play this season. Gonzalez gave the Royals a 4-1 lead with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Ternera at the number two singles flight. Womeodu pulled Wingate within 4-2 when she swept Laing 6-4, 6-1. Lehfeldt sealed the deal with a 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 triumph over Homan at the number six singles position.

In the battle of the number one student-athletes, SAC Player of the Year and NCAA number 22 singles player Nassi led Wingate's De Andreis 6-4, 5-4 when play was suspended. Holland led Nielsen 3-6, 6-1, 3-2 in the number four singles match when Queens won the match.