Way-Back Wednesday: Reinhardt Earns Inaugural AAC Title

From the Reinhardt Archives

WALESKA, Ga. – Top-seeded Reinhardt collected its first-ever Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Women's Tennis Tournament championship with a 5-2 win over third-seeded Milligan (Tenn.).

That was the lead-in of today's Way-Back Wednesday that took place at the Champions Club in Chattanooga, Tenn., when the Eagles cliched their initial appearance in the NAIA Women's Tennis National Championship on April 17, 2016.

In doubles play, Reinhardt took two of the three doubles points against the Buffaloes. Yamit Vodavoz and Stanislava Klymova were the winners on the first court, 8-3, with Paula Puentes and Alyssa Kroll taking the second point on the second doubles line, 8-2.

Each team won a match quickly in singles play as Milligan earned a win on the first court, but at No. 6 singles, Albane Queinnac matched her effort from the earlier meeting with the Buffaloes as she won in two sets, 6-2, 6-0, to give Reinhardt the 3-2 lead.

Kroll needed a tiebreak in the first set but won at No. 4 singles, 7-6 (10), 6-1.

Then, at No. 3 singles, Puentes broke to go up, 6-5, in the second set. When her lob on championship point landed a foot inside the baseline, Puentes had earned a 6-2, 7-5, win to give Reinhardt its first AAC championship in history.

Last season, the Eagles won the regular-season championship of the AAC but fell short in the championship match of the conference tournament. This year, Reinhardt earned the top seed in a three-way tie for the regular-season title, then used a bye in the first round and a win over Tennessee Wesleyan to reach the final for the second year in-a-row. 

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