ORLANDO – The Cameron women's tennis team tops the eight-seeded University of Charleston (W. Va.) 4-2 in the first round of the NCAA Division II National Championship Tournament on Friday at the USTA National Campus.

The Aggies earned a spot in the national tournament with a 4-1 win over rival Midwestern State in the South Central Regional. The win earned them a date with Charleston in the 8-9 match, with a spot in the Elite Eight on the line.

"It was everything an 8-9 seed match should be," Head Coach Josh Cobble stated. "Tight matches and a lot of back and forth. The bottom half of the lineup really played well for us today and got the win in singles. Doubles were important, as always and after an hour-long match at #1, I think it really pushed us into a strong position to win. Proud of the ladies today!"

The Golden Eagles came out and took the first match of doubles at two before Jenna Goessel and Magda Wawrowska tied it at 1-1 with a 6-4 win at No. 3, so it came down to the dual at No. 1. Vasilisa Polunova and Anastasia Uspenskaia battled from behind to take the match 7-6 and give the Black-and-Gold a 1-0 lead.

In singles, Cameron built a quick 3-0 lead with a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 6 by Wawrowska, and Goessel won 6-1, 6-2 at five.

UC tried to mount a comeback as they would take the point a one and two to cut it to a 3-2 advantage for the Aggies. Polunova fell 2-6, 4-6 at No. 1, and at No. 2, Uspenskaia dropped the match 4-6, 2-6.

Kateryna Rudenko would be the deciding match, as she did in the South Central Regional. She would fall in the first set 2-6 before responding with 6-3 and 6-1 wins in the second and third sets.

In the lone unfinished match, Lea Manga was on the verge of winning after taking set one 7-6, and she had a 5-3 lead in the second when the match was called.

CU advances to the next round to face the 1-seed Barry on Saturday at 4:00 pm EDT.