SAINT AUGUSTINE, Fla. - The Newberry College women's tennis team (24-4, 10-4 SAC) dethroned the Queens Royals for their first NCAA Tournament victory in program history after Ish Singh (Gurugram, India) closed out the match with a decisive third set.

"It's incredible," said Head Coach Mark Gardiner. "I told the girls after the last point that I had been coaching for ten years, and Queens has been a nemesis for our program. To beat them in a place like this, at nationals, is just an unbelievable feeling, and I am just so proud of the girls."

The Royals got off to a quick start in doubles play, taking the top two positions to claim an early advantage, but the Wolves would not give up so easily.

The Royals started singles play by taking the No. 6 match, but Zulay Castaneda (Panama City, Panama) was able to get the Wolves back into it with a strong 6-3 6-2 win at the top singles position. Lucy Spice (Maidstone, U.K.) would then tie up the score with a 6-2 6-4 victory at the No. 4 singles position. However, the Royals would then push the Wolves to the brink of elimination by defeating Rosie Harfield (Lee-on-Solent, England) in a very hard-fought 6-4 6-4 match at the No. 5 singles match, but Nastassia Chamoun (Rouen, France) was right there with the answer as she took the No. 2 singles position by a score of 6-4 6-2, ensuring that the match would go the distance. 

It would all come down to Singh in the No. 3 singles match. She came out of the gate strong by taking the first set 6-4, but her opponent responded by taking the second set by a 6-4 score of her own. With the match on the line, Singh was able to rally from being down 3-4 in the third set to secure the first NCAA Tournament victory in program history as well as the program's first victory over Queens in ten attempts.

"I feel like everybody showed up in singles," said Assistant Coach Elias Fernandez. "Obviously we had Ish clinching, which was huge. When your team needs you to clinch, you can feel a lot of pressure, and she managed that really well and played one of the best matches of the entire year. I also feel like [Spice] did a really good job today, and obviously we had [Castaneda and Chamoun] taking care of those top courts. That is high level tennis, and I feel like they did a great job."

The Wolves will now turn their attention to the Southeast Region Bracket No. 2 Final against the host school, Flagler College, on Saturday, May 7 with the first serve scheduled for 1 p.m.