ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – The #16 RiverHawks pushed last year's National Champion to the edge in doubles but they would fall 5-1 in the Round of 16.
This was the fifth straight year that NSU reached the final 16, but couldn't get past an Armstrong team that is in their final season of competition.
After dropping court one in doubles,
Betka Gombarova and
Karla Tomaic controlled the third court to tie the match at one with an 8-5 win. The afternoon tilt was on 2s with
Easton Parker and
Caitlin McCullough holding onto a 7-4 lead and it looked like the RiverHawks would have a 2-1 edge out of doubles. However, Armstrong proved to be relentless and rallied past four match points and took the next five games to win 9-7.
With the momentum of a come-from-behind doubles win, Armstrong State rolled on NSU in singles play. The RiverHawks lost on courts one, two, three, and five, while winning only six games on ASU. Gombarova was leading 6-2, 2-1 in 6s when the match was suspended.
Wednesday's win over NSU, advances #5 Armstrong State (25-4) to the Elite 8 where they will face Midwestern State on Thursday.
Northeastern State's season ends at 19-6 and they finished winning 14-of-15 matches under first year head coach
Jon Parker.
