CHARLOTTE – Women's Tennis begins their Tournament play matches this afternoon from Marion Diehl Park in Charlotte, N.C. with the contest slated to start an hour after the conclusion of the first semifinal between #1 UNCA and #4 Campbell. The #3 Runnin' Bulldogs will play the #2 Charleston Southern Buccaneers in the second semifinal match of the day.
 
Gardner-Webb finished the regular season with a 3-3 record in league play and at 7-8 overall on the year. They played their best at home as they were 5-2 but posted a 2-5 record on the road and dropped their lone neutral site competition. GWU came away on top of a three-way tiebreaker at third due to the fourth scenario of aggregate score against each other to be the #3 seed.
 
Charleston Southern enters the day at 14-7 on the year and 5-1 against Big South foes. They also played their best at home with an 11-3 mark while going 3-3 on the year and losing their only neutral site match of 2023. CSU earned the #2 seed in a de facto conference regular season championship match at UNC Asheville with the Bulldogs winning it 4-3, forfeiting the matches on courts #5 and #6. This marked the first Big South opponent the Bucs had lost to since the 2019 Big South Championships.
 
During the regular season, this served as the conference opener for both teams with the Buccaneers defending their home court 5-2 on Saturday, March 4. CSU swept the doubles matches and won on courts #1-3 and 6 to seal the win. GWU got decisions at #4 and #5 from Valeria Lloclla and Elise Semmartin. Both Manon Delsol and Emilia Roslund's matches went to a third set, giving Gardner-Webb the upset possibility.
 
The Runnin' Bulldogs have been led at the top by Delsol and Roslund with them playing on the top two courts for nearly the entire season. Delsol earned Second Team honors for singles going 8-6 on the year and 3-2 in league play. Roslund was GWU only player on the First Team for singles with an 11-4 record and 4-2 against Big South competition.
 
This duo also has served as the top doubles pair for the team this year and went 6-2 overall and 3-1 in conference play. They were the only team from Gardner-Webb to earn a spot on either doubles team with them earning a First Team selection.
 
Lloclla and Semmartin were also selected to the Second Team All-Conference for singles. Lloclla played most of the season at #4 and went 7-4 overall and posted a 4-1 mark in league play. Semmartin had a 9-6 record and led the team at 5-1 in Big South action.
 
Maria Jardim has been the #3 player for the team and has compiled five singles victories in her fifth year of collegiate tennis. Courtney Fyvie (2-2), Cayline Le Grange (4-8), and Katie Watts (2-1) have all rotated in to fill the last spot in the lineup this season collecting important wins along the way.
 
In total, Gardner-Webb has used ten different pairings for doubles matches this year. In the final match of the year at Radford, Katie Watts and Maria Jardim teamed up on court #2 for their third time playing together in 2023 and improved to 2-0 in league action. Elise Semmartin and Valeria Lloclla were at position #3 and are 4-2 overall and 3-1 in Big South matches.
 
Charleston Southern is led by a strong, deep and experienced lineup. They placed five players in singles and all three of their doubles teams onto the All-Conference squads at the conclusion of the season. All six of their players in the lineup finished the year with a winning record with three going through league action unbeaten.
 
The winner of the matchup with advance to Sunday afternoon's championship match with a berth in the NCAA Women's Tennis Championship on the line.