Brenau Tennis Secures 2018 Appalachian Athletic Conference Championship

The No. 14 Brenau University tennis team defeated Montreat College to clinch the Appalachian Athletic Conference Championship on Saturday, April 7, at the Lessie Smithgall Tennis Center in Gainesville, Georgia.

In the championship-clinching match, the Golden Tigers rolled past the visiting Cavaliers, sweeping all doubles and singles matches to win 9-0 overall.

“This was a really special way to end our first season in the AAC,” said head coach Andre Ferreira. “I am happy for the girls as they are leaving a positive mark in the history of the Brenau tennis program. The AAC is a strong conference with four teams in the Top 25, and I felt that our players not only performed consistently from match to match but also found ways to improve over time.”

The Golden Tigers finished conference play 9-0 in its inaugural season in the AAC, including impressive wins over No. 16 SCAD Atlanta, No. 21 Union College and No. 24 Reinhardt University.

“We’re a better team now than in the beginning of the season,” Ferreira added. “We’re looking forward to postseason play in a couple of weeks in Chattanooga.”

Brenau next takes on No. 2 Georgia Gwinnett College in a non-conference match at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, April 11, in Gainesville.

Final results:

Singles:

  1. Peeraya Charoensirisutthikul, a Brenau freshman from Marietta, Ga., defeated Elizabeth Beary 6-0, 6-1
  2. Rebecca Pijls, a Brenau junior form Beek, The Netherlands, defeated Cierra Hunter 6-0, 6-0
  3. Maya Mammetgulyyeva, a Brenau senior from Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, defeated Hayley Taylor 6-0, 6-0
  4. Paula Rives Palau, a Brenau senior from Barcelona, Spain, defeated Allison Merrell 6-0, 6-0
  5. Kirsten Dickins, a Brenau junior from London, England, defeated Emily Wells 6-0, 6-0
  6. Valentina Pabon, a freshman from Bogota, Columbia, defeated Katie Dillon 6-1, 6-0

Doubles:

  1. Charoensirisutthikul and Mammetgulyyeva defeated Beary/Taylor 8-0
  2. Pijls and Pabon defeated Hunter/Merrell 8-0
  3. Palau and Patricia Recalde Pacua, a Brenau senior from Asuncion, Paraguay, defeated Dillon/Wells 8-0