NEED TO KNOW:
Score: N.C. Wesleyan 5, Piedmont 0
Records: N.C. Wesleyan, 10-6; Piedmont 16-6

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. - The Piedmont women's tennis team saw its spectacular 2021 campaign come to an end on Sunday afternoon in Rocky Mount, falling 5-0 to N.C. Wesleyan in the USA South Tournament Final.

Playing in a clinch format, the Battling Bishops pulled away to take all three doubles lines and needed just a pair of singles matches to clinch the victory.

N.C. Wesleyan opened the scoring with an 8-3 win at No. 2 doubles before outlasting the Lady Lions with an 8-5 win at No. 1 and an 8-6 triumph at No. 3 to deliver the clean doubles sweep and a 3-0.

The Battling Bishops then clinched the championship with a pair of two-set singles wins at No. 1 and No. 2, leaving the remaining four matches unfinished.

Piedmont's MELISSA GISH was up a set at No. 6 singles and leading 5-1 in the second set when play was halted. Fellow newcomer ABBEY GRACE VENHAM took the first set at No. 3 singles and was trailing 3-0 in the second.

Senior MAGGIE MOODY played a grueling first set at No. 4 singles, but fell in a tiebreaker, 7-1.

This marks the second consecutive USA South Tournament in which Piedmont has fallen to N.C. Wesleyan by a 5-0 score in the final as it found the same result in 2019 in LaGrange, Georgia at the USA South Spring Sports Festival.

The Lady Lions enjoyed a dominant run through the USA South regular season, finishing the slate 7-0 before dispatching Huntingdon 9-0 in the first round of the tournament.

Gish and fellow freshman Venham were named to the All-Tournament Team.

FULL ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM:
MELISSA GISH, Piedmont
Elisa Mariotti, N.C. Wesleyan
Valeria Matute, Methodist
Talitha Rowan, N.C. Wesleyan
ABBEY GRACE VENHAM, Piedmont
Stefanie Wilske, N.C. Wesleyan - MVP
Giulia Zanetti, N.C. Wesleyan

TURNING POINT:
- The Battling Bishops were able to outlast the Lady Lions in all three doubles matches, setting themselves up for victory as the match headed into singles action.

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