College of Charleston eliminated by Georgia in NCAA women’s tennis championship

ATHENS, Ga. — The College of Charleston women’s tennis team fell, 4-0, to sixth-seeded and sixth-ranked Georgia in the first round of the NCAA Division I women’s tennis championship Friday.

It was the fourth straight NCAA tournament appearance for the Cougars (25-6) as the automatic qualifier out of the Southern Conference. Georgia (22-4), host site of the regional and the combined men’s and women’s national championships, advances to today’s second-round meeting with No. 24-ranked Clemson (16-9) for a spot in the Round of 16.

The College of Charleston men (18-4) will face 15th-seeded and No. 15-ranked North Carolina (13-7) in first-round action at noon today in Chapel Hill, N.C. The winner will then meet either No. 17-ranked Tennessee (14-13) or UNC Wilmington (17-6) on Sunday.

Softball
Megan Lombard, Jana Matthews and Kristin Kelleher homered to back a strong start from Morgan Dowdy as Charleston Southern advanced to the Big South tournament semifinals with a 5-2 win over No. 2 seed Coastal Carolina (39-18) in Radford, Va.

CSU (32-24) faces No. 5 Gardner-Webb at 2:30 p.m. today.

College of Charleston used a 4-2 win over Elon to advance to the consolation bracket championship in the Southern Conference tournament in Boone, N.C. The Cougars (35-22), who beat UNC Greensboro, 6-3, earlier in the day, faces Chattanooga at 11 a.m. today.

Sailing
The College of Charleston sailing team climbed one spot to No. 1 in the latest Sail1Design College Sailing Team Race Rankings. After two weeks off from competition, the Cougars are at the ICSA National Western and Eastern Semifinals this weekend in Annapolis, Md.

Soccer
The Citadel added seven players for next season, including Taylor Darling of Summerville. Other signees are McKenzie Duncan, Jannel Johnson, Andrea Davila, Isabel Kulinski, Kimberly Maldonado and Samantha Millspaugh.