Championship Central

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KENNESAW, Ga. - The Kennesaw State women’s tennis team is in the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship for the second time in program history as it looks to win its first-ever match in the tournament, and to make a run at a conference title. The Owls set program records for overall and conference wins this season, and they will now shift their attention towards setting more records this postseason.

Setting The Scene:

The No. 5 seeded Kennesaw State women’s tennis team will begin it’s A-Sun Championship run against a very tough opponent in No. 4 seeded Stetson. The Hatters haven’t lost in the first round of the A-Sun Tournament since 2002, and this includes three finals appearances over that time. The Black and Gold have also never defeated Stetson as they are 0-5 against them all-time. The Black and Gold had their best result against Stetson this season as they lost a close 5-2 match on Mar. 12. Kennesaw State lost its only other A-Sun Tournament appearance last season to Campbell, 4-2, in the first round.

Key Matchup:

No. 1 Singles: Shkundina vs. Santos

If the Owls want to pull off the first-round upset the No. 1 singles matchup will be key as junior Vera Shkundina will take on Stetson sophomore, Carolina D.L. Santos. Shkundina finished her conference schedule with an 8-2 record, and one of those two losses came against Santos. The Ufa, Russia native has a 0-2 career record against Santos, and if she can overtake Santos on Thursday it will greatly help Kennesaw State’s chances.

A Regular Season To Remember:

What A Difference A Season Makes: The Black and Gold seemed to transform after the hiring of head coach Jeffery Kutac this winter, and their revitalized play this spring has been fun to watch. The Owls finished the season with a +6 overall wins improvement from last season (12) to this season (18). This marks the most drastic change in overall wins by a team in back-to-back seasons in the A-Sun since Jacksonville went +9 (10 to 19) in the 2006-07 seasons. Also, KSU's 18 overall wins in 2011 was the most by any team in the conference.

The Big 50: Senior Agatha Palider and Shkundina both recorded key milestones in their careers in the 2011 season as they both passed the 50 win mark in singles play for their careers at Kennesaw State.

Freshman Sensation: Freshman Alexandra Apostu shined in her rookie season at Kennesaw State as she started her career with an 18-match winning streak, and she finished the regular season with a 16-6 singles record. Her .727 singles winning percentage is the highest by a freshman since Shkundina posted a .778 mark in her freshman season in 2009.

Carney Nearly Perfect In The Sun: Junior Morgan Carney had a breakout season this year as she finished the regular season with a 13-3 singles record. The most impressive part of her season has been her A-Sun play as she finished the regular season with a 7-1 singles record. That is the best mark by an Owl in conference play since Kennesaw State made the change to Division I in 2005.

Kennesaw State will begin first round play of the A-Sun Tournament against No. 4 seeded Stetson at 9 a.m. on Thursday, April 14.