No. 2 Lady Panthers Begin SIAC Women¡¯s Tennis Championships; Seeks First Conference Title Since 2011 (40 hits)
Two years ago, the Clark Atlanta University Lady Panthers tennis team finished third in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Women's Tennis Championships. They finished second last season.
Today, the Lady Panthers will look to complete that climb as they seek the program's first conference title since 2011 when they play in this season's two-day SIAC championship tournament at Peachtree Tennis Center in Peachtree City, Ga.
CAU takes on No. 3 seed Albany State at 1 p.m., while top-seeded Benedict faces No. 3 Fort Valley State immediately afterward.
Last season, the Lady Panthers fell just short of a championship, losing to Benedict 5-1 in title matches.
This season after finishing 12-2 in conference play, first-year Head Coach Will Riley's squad is again the second-seeded team among the four teams. Clark Atlanta defeated both Albany State and Fort Valley State 9-0 twice this season, with the Lady Panthers' only conference losses coming to Benedict, the two-year, reigning SIAC champions.
In singles play, Clark Atlanta have been led by DiAndrea Galloway who was 11-3 in the SIAC, Jade Shugars (8-1), Vanessa Eusebio (11-3), Akilah Parker (11-1), Nicola Ramdyhan (9-1) and Kevyona Moultrie (10-0). The doubles team of Shugars and Galloway has been one of the top duos in the conference all season, followed by Eusebio/Parker and Vivian Moultrie/Ramdyhan.
Winners of Monday's semifinal round matches meet Tuesday in championship matches that begin at 1 p.m. Admission is free.