Highlighted by the Chattanooga vs. Samford women's tennis match at 2 p.m., the Southern Conference Championship semifinal matches for men and women are played today at the Champions Club in Rivermont.
Championship Finals- Saturday Men at 10 a.m. ... Women at 2 p.m.
Men's Semifinals - 10 a.m.
No.1 Elon (18-4, 10-0) vs. No4. Appalachian State (10-12)... both these teams leave the SoCon at the end of the school year ... Elon was runner-up in 2013 and on a mission to win the SoCon in its last season in the league ... The Phoenix Elon beat No.9 UTC, 4-0, in the quarterfinals, while App State stopped No.5 Samford, 4-2, in the quarters.
No. 2 Furman (15-8, 9-1) vs. No.3 UNCG (14-6, 7-2) ... Furman edged No.7 Wofford, 4-3, in an exciting quarterfinal match ... The Paladins had beaten Wofford, 7-0, in the regular season ... Furman's only SoCon loss was 6-1 to Elon on April 5.
UNCG beat No.6 Ga. Southern, 4-0, in the quarters
Note: One of Elon's four losses this season was to East. Tenn. State, 4-0, in Feb. ... Elon leaves the SoCon as East. Tenn. rejoins for next year.
Women's Semifinals - 2 p.m.
No. 1 Furman (17-5, 10-0) vs. No.4 Elon (13-8, 7-3) ... In the quarterfinals, Furman beat No.9 Wofford, 4-0 while Elon defeated No.5 UNCG (9-12, 6-4), 4-0 ... Furman beat Elon, 4-3, on the road March 21.
Furman has three freshmen in the lineup, including SoCon player of the year, Ansley Speaks.
No.2 Samford (19-2, 9-1) vs. No.3 UTC (18-4, 8-2) ... In the quarters, Samford beat No.7 App State, 4-0, while UTC stopped No.6 Ga. Southern, 4-0 ... UTC carries a 14-match home win streak into today's semis.
Samford beat the Mocs, 4-3, in Birmingham last week ... UTC is 2-4 in semifinal matches since team format was established in 1998 ...
Rubber Match: Today is the third time these two teams have met in SoCon tournament play ... both times in the quarterfinals ... Samford won in 2011, while UTC was victorious in 2012 ... both teams lost in the semis those respective years
UTC Big Numbers - No. 75 and 149 ... UTC senior Alexa Flynn won her 75th career singles match against Ga. Southern Thursday and has 149 career wins in singles and doubles.
UTC- 14 in a Row: The UTC women have won 14 straight home matches dating back to 2013 season ... last home loss was against Furman, 4-3, March 24, 2013
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@Comcast.net