Kansas City, Mo. - The Southwest Baptist University women's tennis team claimed their second straight MIAA title with a 5-3 victory over Northwest Missouri on Sunday. This marks the third MIAA title in the history of the women's tennis program, and the third MIAA title of any women's sports team at SBU.

The Bearcats started out the match by taking two of three doubles matches against Northwest Missouri. The doubles team of Fanni Varga/Mehak Singh and Andjela Panovski/Crystal Guiot both collected victories to give SBU a 2-1 lead heading into singles. The Bearcats were able to claim three of the five singles match (one was incomplete when the Bearcats collected the five required points to claim a victory) to win their 2nd straight MIAA title. Singles victories came from Varga, Singh, and Faiga Schmidt.

"Our women find a way to get five points," head coach John Bryant stated. "There are a lot of different positions and places where we can win matches, with the victory our women earn an automatic spot in the NCAA regionals. This team is very good, and I am excited to see how far they can go."

The Bearcats finish the regular season and MIAA Tournament with a 22-2 (7-0 MIAA) record. The Bearcats have been led all season by Mehak Singh (21-0 singles) Fanni Varga (21-1 singles), and Adrienn Kovacs (21-2 singles).

With the MIAA Championship win, the Bearcat women earn an automatic spot in the NCAA South Central Regional which takes place on next weekend. The Bearcats will be in the running to host the South Central Regional, with the offical announcement of the host schools coming mid-week next week, along with the announcement of the Bearcats opponent.

#14 Southwest Baptist 5, Northwest Missouri 3

Singles

1. #45 Fanni Varga (SBU) def. Camilia Quesada (NWMSU) 6-3, 6-1
2. #16 Mehak Singh (SBU) def. Erika Leston (NWMSU) 6-0, 6-0
3. Adrienn Kovacs (SBU) vs. Alexis Bartek (NWMSU) No Result
4. Kim Ho (NWMSU) def. Andjela Panovski (NWMSU) 6-0, 6-0
5. Fagia Schmidt (SBU) def. Stephanie Mannix (NWMSU) 6-2, 6-4
6. Emily Hoffman (NWMSU) def. Crystal Guiot (SBU) 6-3, 6-1

Doubles

1. Varga/Singh (SBU) def. Quesada/Bartek (NWMSU) 8-4
2. Leston/Leslee Feldhaus (NWMSU) def. Kovacs/Schmidt (SBU) 8-2
3. Panovski/Guiot (SBU) def. Hoffman/Ho (NWMSU) 8-2