MONTGOMERY, Ala. – No. 15 Loyola's run at the 2023 Southern States Athletic Conference Women's Tennis Championship ended on Saturday in the final match of the tournament, as No. 16 William Carey claimed the title with a 4-0 win.
It was the Wolf Pack's first appearance in the final at the SSAC Championship tournament since the school joined the SSAC prior to the 2010-11 season. Carey had been the tournament runners-up in the previous two seasons, and last won the championship in 2019.
Loyola, now 13-7 on the season, needs an at-large selection to make the 24-team field at the 2023 NAIA Women's Tennis National Championship. Qualifiers will be announced on Tuesday, May 2.
The Crusaders carried momentum from doubles competition into singles after securing the doubles point. Lucy Carpenter and Fatima Vasquez played another great match at their usual No. 1 spot, their second straight 6-0 victory, but Carey rallied to take the matches on the other two doubles courts in tiebreakers.
Carpenter and Vasquez improved to 11-5 in doubles matches this season and won all three matches in the tournament. Overall, Carpenter went 5-1 this week between singles and doubles, while Vasquez was 4-0.
In singles, Carey won on courts 1, 5, and 6 to clinch the match. Adele Fereres and Micaela Ponce each were in third sets in their matches and Vasquez was up in her second set, but their matches did not finish.
"Tough finish for such a great season for our women. We were one of the only teams in our conference that believed that we could win. We received one vote to win the tournament from the conference coaches' poll earlier this year, and that was from me, because I believe in this team so much and I know what we're capable of. We came up just short of that, but that doesn't diminish the best season in program history and the hard work, determination, and fight that these women showed all the way through to the very last match. We have incredibly strong women on this team and I'm very proud to see how they grew and matured throughout this season and always fought as hard as they could, including today's match.
"Credit to William Carey, who played a great match today. We look forward to having some great matches with them in the future.
"Hopefully what we've done this week was enough for us to show that we're one of the best teams in the country and that we deserve to be in the postseason. Regardless, I'm very proud of the progress we've made and we'll be back here next year."
You can keep up with the Pack by following Wolf Pack Athletics on Facebook at Facebook.com/LoyolaWolfPack, Twitter and Instagram @LoyolaWolfPack, and by checking out our website at LoyolaWolfPack.com.
Results
No. 15 Loyola – 0
No. 16 William Carey – 4
Doubles
1. L. Carpenter/Vasquez (LOYNO) def. Chang/Logan (WCU) 6-0
2. Abarkane/Koch (WCU) def. Frierson/Ponce (LOYNO) 7-6
3. Ortega/Westkamp (WCU) def. E. Carpenter/A. Fereres (LOYNO) 7-6
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles
1. Jordan Ortega Mendez (WCU) def. Lucy Carpenter (LOYNO) 6-4, 6-4
2. Micaela Ponce (LOYNO) vs. Emelie Koch (WCU) 6-1, 6-7 (3-7), unfinished
3. Fatima Vasquez (LOYNO) vs. Tiffany Chang (WCU) 1-6, 6-5, unfinished
4. Adele Fereres (LOYNO) vs. Malak Abarkane (WCU) 4-6, 6-0, 3-1 unfinished
5. Nina Westkamp (WCU) def. Elly Carpenter (LOYNO) 6-1, 6-0
6. Sunny Logan (WCU) def. Avery Frierson (LOYNO) 7-6 (9-7), 6-4
Order of finish: 5, 1, 6
