Union College women鈥檚 tennis win first regular season conference title in over a decade
BARBOURVILLE, Ky. (BVM) — A return to spring sports has been just what the Union College women鈥檚 tennis team needed this year. After a COVID-shortened 2020 season wiped out any chance for the program to receive any recognition, the Bulldogs have rallied during the 2021 campaign to become one of the best teams in not just the Appalachian Athletic Conference, but the entire NAIA.
On April 13, the Bulldogs secured a regular-season AAC title and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament beginning on Wednesday after finishing the campaign with a 12-1 overall record and a perfect 8-0 conference record. The team鈥檚 only loss on the year came against Indiana Wesleyan on April 8 when the Wildcats were ranked No. 9 in the country.
The regular-season victory marked the first time the women鈥檚 team had won the conference since 2009.
On Wednesday, the Bulldogs also learned that they had once again jumped in the NAIA Women鈥檚 Tennis Coaches鈥� Top 25 Poll. Previously ranked No. 11, Union moved up five spots to No. 6 in the country. The only teams ahead of the Bulldogs to this point are Georgia Gwinnett, Keiser (Fla.), Xavier (La.), Indiana Wesleyan and SCAD Savannah (Ga.).
Though the AAC conference tournament began on April 14, the Bulldogs won鈥檛 play until Thursday when they face the winner of the No. 8 Point and No. 9 Bluefield matchup that takes place Wednesday afternoon.
With the AAC Tournament scheduled to finish by Saturday, it will be interesting to see just how far the Bulldogs can go. With no blemishes on their conference record to date, it is likely that Union will be able to add some more hardware to their trophy case come Sunday.
