Women's Tennis 4/11/2022 10:23:00 AM

Women’s Tennis Close Out Winning Season

Lady Tigers Finish Runner-Up At SIAC Championship

PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. – Savannah State women's tennis ended the best season the program has seen in over two decades on Sunday.

Following a 5-2 win over the No. 2 seeded Albany State on Saturday in a semifinal game, No. 3 seeded Savannah State fell to No. 1 Benedict, 2-5, on Sunday in a battle for the 2022 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) women's tennis title.

Savannah State closes the season with a runner-up trophy and a 14-7 overall record—the best finish for the program since the 1998 team won the SIAC Championship.

"It was a fantastic season," Head Coach Charles Keenan said. "We fought through injury all year and it just caught up with us in the final game. But, I am very proud of these ladies. They did a fantastic job this season. We hope to build on this momentum moving forward."

Prior to Saturday's game, Gabrielle Benn was named the 2022 SIAC Women's Tennis Player of the Year. Along with her sister Amarila Benn, Gabrielle and Julia Ramos Bentham were all named to the SIAC All-Conference Team.

On Saturday, Gabrielle Benn won her 12th singles match this season playing in the first court. She beat Albany State's Doylisha Copeland in straight sets 6-1 and 6-1. In the second court, Betham beat Asia Raulerson in two sets. After winning the first set 6-2, Benthem won 7-6 with a 9-7 tiebreaker in the second set.

Amarlia Benn won the third court of singles for Savannah State, beating Allyah Williams in straight sets 6-0 and 6-1. Caitlyn Schultz fell to Bianca Leao in the fourth court 2-6 and 0-6.

Venus Ubiebi beat Carla Sorroche in the fifth court. After falling 4-8 in the first set, she bounced back with a 6-3 win in the second and a 10-8 win in the tiebreaker. In the sixth court, Sunzahra Banks fell to Sumana Panuganti 0-6 and 1-6.

The Benn sisters captured their eighth doubles win this season in the first court beating Copeland and Williams 6-4. Bentham and Ubiebi beat Raulerson and Sorroche in the second court 6-2. Schultz and Banks fell to Leao and Panuganti 3-6 in the third court.

In Sunday's title game, Gabrielle Benn was forced to retire due to injury in the second set of the first court of singles action against Esperance Follykoue falling in the match. The Lady Tigers dropped all of the singles court play with the exception of the fifth court where Ubiebi beat Shakendra Alston 7-6 and 4-1 (ret).

The Benn sisters beat Follykoue and Sofia Gomez in the first court of doubles, 6-2, in the title game. Bentham and Ubiebi beat Karina Izakova and Alston in the second court of doubles 6-4. Schultz and Banks fell to Wamba and Gabriela Zelaya in the third court, 3-6.

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Players Mentioned

Venus Ubiebi: 5' 7"; Junior

Caitlyn Schultz: 5' 6"; Graduate Student

Sunzahra Banks: 5' 10"; Freshman

Amarlia Benn: 5' 6"; Junior

Gabrielle Benn: 5' 6"; Junior

Julia Ramos Bentham: 5' 8"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Venus Ubiebi
: 5' 7"; Junior

Caitlyn Schultz
: 5' 6"; Graduate Student

Sunzahra Banks
: 5' 10"; Freshman

Amarlia Benn
: 5' 6"; Junior

Gabrielle Benn
: 5' 6"; Junior

Julia Ramos Bentham
: 5' 8"; Freshman