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FEATURE: Women's Tennis Eyes Another Strong Finish

| By: Donald Heath
You can't complain about the Savannah State women's tennis team's best finish in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) since 1998.

But …
The Tigers fell just short of a conference title and an NCAA tournament bid last spring, losing in the SIAC title match to Benedict College, 5-2.

The defeat put a blemish on a 14-7 season, the best record for the program since the 1998 team won the SIAC Championship. SSU was 11-3 in conference play and avenged early-season setbacks to Spring Hill and Albany State.

"It was a little disappointing but everything happens for a reason," Tigers coach Charles Keenan said. "We had a great season and it was a blast. The championship loss will just motivate us more for the future."

SSU's future looks bright with the return of twins Gabrielle and Amarlia Benn, juniors who provide a 1-2 punch at No. 1 and No. 2 singles and combined as the No. 1 doubles team.

Gabrielle was the 2022 SIAC Women's Tennis Player of the Year and Amarlia was an all-conference selection. Gabrielle finished with a 12-3 record in singles, 10-1 in conference play. Her only SIAC loss came after retiring in the championship match because of an injury.

"She's an aggressive baseliner with an amazing forehand and when stretched out she'll look to slice. She's a lefthander so she'll utilize her left-hand serve slice to jam righthanders," Keenan said.

At No. 2, Amarlia was 8-8 but led in three other unfinished matches.
 
Keenan lost an all-conference performer at No. 3 singles, Julia Ramos, but gained a transfer in Padmasree Murugan from Upper Iowa University (NCAA Division II). Murugan is expected to contribute at No. 3. She was 7-9 at No. 5 last season with the Peacocks. 

Sunzahra Banks, who played at No. 6 as a freshman last season, moves up to No. 4. Banks was 5-10 a year ago. Sarah Joachim and Stella Ekwalla will take over at the 5 and 6 positions. Joachim was 2-2 in limited action. Ekwalla, who has played on SSU's women's golf team, now hopes to be on par with her racket.

Murugan and Banks will team to form No. 2 doubles and Joachim-Ekwalla will play No. 3. Keenan said walk-on Yanna Cunningham will add depth.

"Last year, everything fell into place as far as recruiting," Keenan said. "Luckily, we landed the Benn sisters (transfers from Ava Maria University in Florida) and we had an extra player, Caitlyn Schultz, who came in as a graduate student from SCAD. Losing three starters out of six for the upcoming season will be a challenge."

The Tigers get their first challenge of the 2023 season in the SIAC's new four-team cluster format. SSU will host Tuskegee, Fort Valley State and Clark Atlanta on Feb. 17-18.

Last year, the SIAC held two roundups, each over a three-day period, when the nine women's conference teams played potentially eight league foes in matches that counted in the conference standings.

Cluster play subtracts at least a few matches from the roundups. After cluster play and the two roundups, the top four teams (record wise) compete for the SIAC championship.

"Our goal this year is to be among those four," Keenan said.
 
 
 
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