Full Bracket
Round of 32 Results
Round of 16 Results
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – St. Scholastica women’s tennis freshman
Ploy Suthijindawong (
Bangkok, Thailand/Duluth Central) cruised to victory in the first round and then rallied to win in the second round today at the NCAA Division III National Tennis Singles Championships, co-hosted by Oglethorpe University and Gwinnett Sports Commission.
The national singles championship pits the 32 best Division III singles players in the country in single elimination tournament.
Her first round match was against Ellen Yeatman of Washington & Lee University (Va.). Yeatman, who is also a freshman, was 13-6 during the season and was ranked fifth in the Atlantic South Region, according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).
Ploy got off to a good start, taking the first set 6-3. She fell behind in the second set 2-1, but won five straight games to capture the set and the match 6-3, 6-2. The win gives Ploy her 20th win of the spring season and her 20th consecutive victory. She also becomes the first ITA Division III All-American in program history with the first round win and breaks the school record for most singles wins in a year with 24.
Her round of 16 opponent would be Nicole Pontee of Vassar College (N.Y.). Pontee, a junior, went 24-4 during the season and upended the No. 8-seed Meghan Damico of Denison University (Ohio) in three sets in the first round. She was named the Northeast’s Region Player to Watch by the ITA and was also ranked fifth in the region.
The match was delayed about two hours due to rain in the area and all of the action was moved indoors. When the second round match got underway, Ploy would lose the first set by a score of 6-3.
“The first set was feeling out process for Ploy,” Head Coach Wells Patten said. “Her opponent was hitting some amazing shots and it was tough to figure out where the ball was going sometimes.”
However, Ploy would respond and take the second set convincingly 6-2. After dropping the first game in the third set, Ploy would eliminate any drama of a tight deciding set and win the match 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.
She advances to the quarterfinals to face Kendra Higgins of the University of Chicago. Higgins is the No. 2 seed and is the top-ranked player in the Central Region. Higgins, who is also a freshman, was named the Central Region Rookie of the Year and had a record of 22-5 during the season.
The quarterfinals get underway at 9 a.m. tomorrow morning with the semifinals to follow at noon.