Lenoir-Rhyne men's lacrosse gets No. 6 seed in NCAA playoffs; women's tennis is No. 5
The Lenoir-Rhyne men's lacrosse team earned the No. 6 seed in the NCAA Division II men's lacrosse tournament and will face off against No. 3 Florida Tech in Melbourne, Florida, at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Lenoir-Rhyne is one of four South Atlantic Conference teams (Wingate, Newberry, Anderson) to earn a spot in this year's NCAA field.
The Bears are making their sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. Head coach Greg Paradine and his squad have a record of 11-4 (7-2 SAC) this season and have won nine of their last 10 games. The only loss was in the SAC semifinals to eventual champion Newberry on Wednesday evening.
Florida Tech is making its first NCAA appearance after finishing the regular season with a 12-4 record. The Panthers advanced to the Sunshine State Conference Championship game, falling 17-8 to top-seeded Tampa.
Women's tennis earns No. 5 seed
The Lenoir-Rhyne women's tennis team earned the No. 5 seed in the NCAA Southeast Regional and will face off against No. 4 North Georgia on Friday at 1 p.m.
Both teams will travel to Salisbury, North Carolina, as Catawba earned the No. 1 seed and hosting duties. The winner of Friday's matchup will face off against the winner of Catawba and Erskine on Saturday at 2 p.m.
The Bears, ranked 12th nationally, hold a 15-3 (10-1 SAC) record and advanced to their first SAC Championship game in program history after defeating Wingate 4-2 in the semifinals. Runa Muderrisoglu, Nellie Wahlberg, Sandra Mahbouli, Mehetia Boosie and Alexa Allison were all named to all-conference teams. Head coach Sam Clarke was the SAC Women's Tennis Coach of the Year. This will be the first NCAA appearance for the Bears.
North Georgia, ranked 16th in the most recent national poll, comes into Friday's matchup with a 16-7 record. They fell 4-2 to Flagler in their conference semifinals. The Nighthawks have had a string of success recently as this will be their ninth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, with two national quarterfinal appearances and a run to the semifinals in 2024.
Women's lacrosse falls in SAC title game
The Lenoir-Rhyne women's lacrosse team came up short on Sunday, falling 11-9 to Wingate in the SAC Championship game.
The Bears made a push and led 7-6 after three, but five straight goals from the Bulldogs to open the fourth propelled them to the title.
This was Lenoir-Rhyne's third appearance in the SAC Championship game and their first since 2019. Kirra Olson led the team with four points, coming off three goals and an assist.
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