MONTEVALLO, Ala. – Montevallo women's tennis heads into the postseason as the No. 6 seed in the Gulf South Conference tournament and is set to take on three-seeded Auburn Montgomery on Saturday, April 27.
CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
So Far This Season…
The Falcons claimed the No. 6 seed after finishing the regular season with a 9-10 overall record and a 4-6 mark in conference play. The Falcons opened the spring season with a pair of wins over Tuskegee before dropping the first match of the season to Alabama State in mid-February. Montevallo opened the GSC schedule with a 6-1 win over Christian Brothers on Feb. 17 before falling in a tight match to Delta State, 4-3, a week later. The Falcons then fell in back-to-back matchups in Georgia to Columbus State and Georgia College before returning to the GSC slate. Montevallo's return to the conference schedule brought a 5-2 loss to West Florida before the Falcons dropped a match to Valdosta State, 6-1, on March 13. Montevallo then went on a three-match win streak sparked by a 5-2 in over West Georgia on March 14. The Falcons added a 6-0 win over Spring Hill on March 19 before taking down Shorter 7-0 on March 20. Montevallo then played four matches in six days that began with a loss to Mississippi College on March 23. Montevallo picked up a 4-3 win over Lincoln Memorial before adding a 7-0 win over King on March 27. The Falcons road trip ended with a loss at Tennessee Wesleyan on March 28. Montevallo went on to add a 4-3 win over Lee on April 7 before dropping a match with AUM on April 12. In the final match of the regular season, Montevallo fell to GSC regular season champions West Alabama, 6-1, on April 16.
"We started a little bit weaker and then the longer the season was, the better we got," said Hartlohner. "We won against Lee, which same level as us, maybe even better… I think the good thing about this is the, like the longer the season goes, the better we are."
Individually, Montevallo is highlighted by Leiselotte Hartlohner with a 10-6 overall record in singles matches with a 6-4 record in conference matches as the No. 3 player for the Falcons.
London Breedlove has also posted a strong singles record with an 11-8 mark over the course of the season while adding a 5-5 record in conference play.
Johanna Kullman also posted double-digit wins with an 11-6 record this season while going 6-4 in conference play. Hartlohner and
Klara Podskubkova highlight Montevallo's doubles pairings with an 8-9 overall mark and a 3-7 mark in conference play at the No. 1 slot.
Scouting AUM: LIVE STATS
AUM heads into the conference tournament as the No. 3 seed with a 16-5 overall record and an 8-2 mark in GSC action. The Warhawks opened the season with a pair of wins over Alabama State and Middle Georgia State in the early going. The Warhawks then dropped the first match of the season to No. 7 Columbus State before opening GSC play with a 7-0 win over Shorter. AUM then fell to West Alabama at home before topping West Georgia, 5-2, on the road. The Warhawks added back-to-back non-conference wins over Tuskegee and Spring Hill before dropping a match to No. 11 North Georgia. AUM went on to win four in a row sparked by a 4-1 win over No. 9 Cameron followed by back-to-back road wins over Midwestern State and Texas at Tyler before taking a 4-2 win over No. 4 Saint Leo. The Warhawks fell to No. 2 Nova Southeastern before restarting the conference schedule with a 5-2 win over Mississippi College. AUM went on to take a pair of 7-0 wins over Christian Brothers and Delta State before picking up a pair of wins over West Florida and Lee on the road. The Warhawks dropped a match to No. 37 Valdosta State before defeating the Falcons on April 12. In the final regular season contest, AUM earned a 4-3 win over Georgia College on April 19.
AUM is led individually by Estefania Garcia with a 16-5 record as the top singles player while going 7-3 in conference play. Ane Ibarra and Nahia Izco also posted a 7-3 conference mark while Ibarra added a 9-6 overall record and Izco went 14-7 overall. The Warhawks' doubles pairing of Ibarra and Garcia posted a 16-5 overall mark with an 8-2 mark in conference action while Izco and Ana Villalvazo posted a 15-3 overall record and a 7-2 mark in GSC action.
"I believe in both of these teams, so I know we can do, do well. We just have to stay disciplined out there. We talk about that a lot as being disciplined in those big moments," said Stancil.
