GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Junior Georgie Walker won the singles flight eight championship to lead the Furman women's team Sunday in the final day of the 33rd Annual Debbie Southern Fall Classic, held this weekend at the Mickel Tennis Center on the campus of Furman University in Greenville, S.C.
A native of Harpenden, Hertfordshire, England, Walker scored a 7-6(3), 6-4 victory over Florida State's Andrea Garcia for the title, which marked just the second flight championship for the Paladins in the history of the tournament. Earlier in the weekend, she recorded wins over players from South Carolina and Georgia Tech to reach the championship match.
In other singles action, sophomore Mary Hunter Hyche was the co-champion of singles flight 11 after beating Lyric Bonilla of Tennessee, 6-2, 6-4, and sophomore Julia Adams recorded a 6-4, 6-2 victory over 115th-ranked Magda Adaloglou of Mississippi State at flight three. Junior Danni Vines defeated Tennessee's Kylie Duckworth, 6-2, 7-5, in a consolation match-up at flight ten. All told, the Paladins tallied five wins over ranked opponents during the three-day tournament.
"Today was another great day for our team," said Paladin head coach Adam Herendeen, who is in his fifth season at the helm of the Furman program. "You could see us competing better each day of this tournament, and I think we learned and grew a lot as a team. I am especially proud of the weekend that Georgie put together. She was really gritty in big moments, and it was exciting to see her rewarded with a flight championship in one of the premier tournaments in college tennis!"
All 13 teams which competed in this weekend's tournament were ranked in the top 65 in the 2018 final ITA Collegiate Tennis rankings: North Carolina (3), Duke (4), South Carolina (5), Vanderbilt (8), Texas (9), Florida State (15), Tennessee (22), Wake Forest (23), Ohio State (25), Georgia Tech (35), Mississippi State (50), Furman (55), and Clemson (68).
Furman's Katarina Kozarov will compete at the ITA Oracle Masters Championship, Sept. 26-29, in Malibu, Calif.
Singles Results
Round Three
F1 #4 Alexa Graham (UNC) def. #46 Katarina Kozarov (Furman), 7-5, 6-3
F3 Julia Adams (Furman) def. #115 Magda Adaloglou (Miss. St.), 6-4, 6-2
F5 Tijana Spasojevic (Texas) def. Madison Dillon (Furman), 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-4
F7 Peyton Pesavento (Wake Forest) def. Maggie Pate (Furman), 6-1, 6-0
F8 Georgie Walker (Furman) def. Andrea Garcia (Florida St.), 7-6 (3), 6-4
F10 Danni Vines (Furman) def. Kylie Duckworth (Tennessee), 6-2, 7-5
F11 Mary Hunter Hyche (Furman) def. Lyric Bonilla (Tennessee), 6-2, 6-4
