SAVANNAH, GA – Helped by come-from-behind wins at No. 3 doubles and No. 2 singles, 16th-ranked Francis Marion University downed 17th-ranked Georgia College & State University 5-3, Thursday afternoon (May 3) in an opening-round match at the NCAA Division II Women’s Tennis Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament.

Francis Marion (16-7) now meets second-ranked Armstrong Atlantic State University (26-0) in the regional title match, Friday at 10 a.m. The winner advances to the national finals, May 9-12, in Altamonte Springs, Fla. AASU dispatched Fayetteville State University 5-0 earlier on Thursday. The 16 victories represent the second-highest season total ever for an FMU squad.

FMU split the first two doubles matches with GCSU, winning at No. 1 and losing at No. 2.  At the final doubles spot, the Patriot duo of Magda Jezovicova and Elizabeth Lee trailed Gabby Acuna and Anna Davidsson 6-5, but earned two service breaks to close out the match 8-6, and give Francis Marion a 2-1 advantage heading into singles play.

GCSU’s Sofia Intriago picked up a quick 6-0, 6-1 win over Lee at No. 5 singles to even up the match at 2-2. However, the Patriots collected singles wins from Jenny Ludwig at the No. 3 position, 7-5, 6-3 over Marjorie Ceppo; at the No. 6 spot from Sarah Hickman, 6-2, 6-0 over Acuna; and the clinching win from senior Kamini Murugaboopathy at the No.2 position, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, over 43rd-ranked Sara Skagegard. Murugaboopathy improves her season singles record to a team-best 18-4.

The win sets up a rematch of the Mid-Atlantic Regional final from last season, in which the host Pirates won 5-0.