BENTONVILLE, Ark. – The Arkansas Tech women's tennis team completed a memorable Great American Conference Tournament run on Sunday as they beat No. 2-seed Henderson State in the championship match, 4-3, to capture their second-ever tournament title.
The win also gives the Golden Sun the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Central Region Tournament, marking the fourth time overall that the program will play in a regional tournament. The previous two came in 2015 and 2014 while the first was a South Region Tournament appearance in 2002.
The Golden Suns' opponent and location of the upcoming regional will be announced during the NCAA.com selection show that streams at 7 p.m. on Monday, May 4.
In their match against Henderson, the Golden Suns lost the doubles point as the Reddies won 6-3 at No. 3 and 6-2 at No. 2.
Undeterred by doubles, the Golden Suns locked in on singles play quickly won the first two matches with Elis Gerel winning 6-3, 6-2 at No. 1 and
Nayara Alvarez winning 6-3, 6-2 at No. 6. Henderson then tied the match at 2-all with a 6-1, 7-6 (3) win at No. 5.
Shortly thereafter, the Reddies were on the cusp of a conference title as they picked up a win No. 2 singles, 6-3, 7-5, but after winning her set one tiebreaker 8-6,
Natalya Montoya wrapped up her match at No. 4 with a 6-3 win in set two.
That brought all the attention to court three where Tech's
Monica Balau and Henderson's Adiya Abdugappar were playing a third set. Balau and Abdugappar traded 6-2 set wins with Balau winning the first set and Abdugappar taking the second.
In the third set, Balau won the first two games, but Abdugappar captured the next two. Hampered throughout the season with a shoulder injury, the brace-laden Balau took over, holding serve to retake the lead, 3-2. She then broke Abdugappar and followed with a hold to lead 5-2.
Driven by an intense desire to win, Balau once more broke Abdugappar's serve to win her sixth game and secure the title for the Golden Suns.
