Harding Women's Tennis Opens GAC Action with 5-4 Win over Southern Nazarene

SEARCY – Harding women's tennis remained undefeated at home and won its Great American Conference opener 5-4 Saturday at the Harding Tennis Courts. The Lady Bisons won two doubles matches and three singles matches. Junior Arielle Butler clinched the match for Harding with a 7-5, 6-3 victory at No. 5 singles.

Harding improved to 9-4 overall and 1-0 in the GAC. Southern Nazarene fell to 1-6 overall and 0-2 in conference. The Lady Bisons jumped to 3-0 at home.

Harding took a quick 1-0 lead with an 8-0 win at No. 2 doubles. The team of Brittany Smyser and Gabriella Alves improved to 7-6 with their first shutout of the season.

The Lady Bisons' No. 3 team of Arielle Butler and Emily Faulkner won 8-6 to give Harding a 2-0 lead. It was the fourth straight win for Butler and Faulkner, and they became the first Harding doubles team this season to reach 10 wins.

The No. 1 doubles match featured two of the top 10 doubles teams in the Central Region. Southern Nazarene's sixth-ranked team of Noelia Gomez and Polina Chala defeated Harding's No. 7 team of Piper Huey and Laura Golubic, 8-4 in a match that lasted 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Faulkner gave Harding a 3-1 lead with a 6-0, 6-0 victory at No. 6 singles. It was her fifth straight singles victory and gave her a 5-1 dual singles record.

Alves added Harding's next point and gave the Lady Bisons a 4-1 lead with a 6-2, 6-1 triumph at No. 3 for her sixth dual singles victory.

Southern Nazarene pulled within 4-2 with Dragana Samardzic's 6-3, 6-2 victory at No. 4.

Butler's seventh dual match victory was her seventh of the season.

Southern Nazarene's third point came at No. 2, where Polina Chala, the No. 13-ranked singles player in the Central Region, won 7-5, 6-3.

The final matchup, contesting two of the top 20 singles players in the Central Region, lasted 2 hours, 40 minutes. Southern Nazarene's Gomez, ranked 16th regionally, defeated Huey, ranked 15th, 5-7, 6-4, 10-8.

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Players Mentioned

Gabriella Alves: Sophomore

Arielle Butler: Junior

Emily Faulkner: Sophomore

Laura Golubic: Sophomore

Piper Huey: Junior

Brittany Smyser: Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Gabriella Alves
: Sophomore

Arielle Butler
: Junior

Emily Faulkner
: Sophomore

Laura Golubic
: Sophomore

Piper Huey
: Junior

Brittany Smyser
: Sophomore