GREENWOOD – The Lander women's tennis team continues to make strides as a program and the Bearcats are hoping that 2016 is an historic season.
Lander enters the spring in search of its first NCAA tournament berth in school history. The Bearcats have had six winning seasons in the past nine years under head coach Brett Simpson.
Lander returns five contributors from the 2015 squad, but must replace its primary No. 1 and 2 singles players from last season, Marion Courbis and Elise Sancelme. Returning for the Bearcats in 2016 are seniors Maggie Elliott (Greenwood, S.C.) and Renata Mello (Rio, Brazil); junior Ivanka Mocic (Split, Croatia); and sophomores Anni Poikola (Espoo, Finland) and Gabrielle Woodson (Alpharetta, Ga.). Junior Yuriko Ono (Nakatsugawa City, Japan), sophomore Caroline Yodice (Mount Pleasant, S.C.) and freshmen Lauren French (Raleigh, N.C.) are newcomers.
Lander's first step towards making the NCAA Tournament will require navigating the treacherous Peach Belt Conference waters. Once again, the PBC hosts some of the top teams in the country. Defending national champion Armstrong State, who has won seven of the last 11 national titles, is the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's No. 1 team, followed by Columbus State at No. 8, Georgia College at No. 13, Flagler at No. 31 and Augusta at No. 36.
The Bearcats are 14-11 in PBC play over the past two seasons and have gone back-to-back years without a losing record in conference play, the longest streak in program history.
Lander's 2016 season begins on Saturday, January 31st, with a road match against Coker. The Bearcats will also travel to Emmanuel and North Greenville in non-conference play, while hosting Newberry, Limestone and Mount Olive.
The PBC portion of the slate begins on Wednesday, February 17th, as Lander travels to Augusta. The Bearcats will face four top-50 nationally ranked opponents on the road in 2016. Lander travels to Flagler, Armstrong State, Georgia College, Clayton State and Montevallo during the season.
In conference play, the Bearcats will host Columbus State, Georgia Southwestern, Francis Marion, USC Aiken, North Georgia and Young Harris. Lander is 14-4 at the Joe Cabri Tennis Center since 2014.
