ROCK HILL - The Newberry women's tennis team booked a spot in the 2014 Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Women's Tennis Championship semifinals with a 5-2 victory in the quarterfinals over the No. 5-seed Anderson at the Rock Hill Tennis Center.
The Wolves (16-7) opened the match by earning all three of the doubles points agains the Trojans (8-9). Newberry's first point came at No. 2 as senior Marina Ziehe (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and sophomore Vanessa Ortiz (Cochabamba, Bolivia) knocked off Rebecca Bruning and Lindsay Gregory 8-2.
A second victory for the Wolves came at No. 3 as freshman Kelly McManus (Charleston, S.C.) and sophomore Tara Lamers (Maastricht, The Netherlands) defeated Alexandra Ebner and Nikkola Wichenko 8-4.
The doubles sweep was completed in a battle of regionally ranked doubles pairs at No. 1. The No. 10-regional pairing of seniors Susana Aguirre (Guayaquil, Ecuador) and Romina Adum (Guayaquil, Ecuador) battled to an 8-5 victory over No. 9-regional duo of Karen Ching and Avery Owens.
Singles play was shortened as the Wolves earned the victory before the final two matches were finished.
Ortiz earned Newberry's first singles point at No. 3 by defeating Bruning in straight sets. Aguirre wrapped up the match for the Wolves with a two-set victory over Ching at No. 1 singles.
Newberry's win advances the Wolves to the conference semifinals and a 9 a.m. meeting Thursday against No. 1-seed Wingate. The Bulldogs are currently ranked No. 38 in the nation and No. 5 in the region according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
