INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The No. 6 University of North Georgia (UNG) women's tennis team advanced to the semifinals of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) DII National Women's Team Indoor Championship with a 4-3 win over No. 7 Flagler in Indianapolis, Ind. on Friday.

The win marked UNG's second of the season over a ranked opponent after taking down a fellow Peach Belt Conference foe in the Saints.

Head coach Kent Norsworthy called the victory a "massive win" for the Nighthawks early in the season.

It all started with a win in doubles to put UNG up 1-0 overall early in the match.

Senior Angelina Linnikova and freshman Linn Goerdes were paired together in the #1 doubles match to take down No. 21 duo Dana Heimen and Anastasia-Aleksandra Nikolova in a 6-3 victory.

Then in the #2 doubles competition, freshman Vasilissa Kupriyanova and senior Ashley Moinard held off a comeback from Laura Jipescu and Eryka Kruk.

Kupriyanova and Moinard jumped out to an early 5-2 lead in the match and needed to win one more set to secure the victory. However, Jipescu and Kruk won three straight sets to tie the match at 5-5.

UNG picked up a 40-15 win in the 11th game to pull ahead 6-5. The final game was a hotly contested battle that went back-and-forth on the scoreboard. At 40-40 in the game, Kupriyanova and Moinard pulled out the win to take the match 7-5 and earn the doubles point for the Nighthawks.

In singles, Goerdes put her team one step closer to a win with a 6-0, 6-1 dismantling of No. 47 Jipescu in the #4 singles match. 

UNG's 2-0 lead was relinquished however in #5 and #6 singles as the Saints rallied to win the pair of matches and tie the overall match at 2-2.

Things went from bad to worse for the Nighthawks in the #3 singles competition as Kupriyanova conceded a 4-6, 6-2, 3-6 loss to Flagler's Adela Latalova. The Saints had rallied all the way back from down 2-0 to lead 3-2 and were one win away from clinching the victory.

However, UNG would not go down without a fight. After splitting the first two sets 4-6, 6-1, Moinard battled back from a 4-2 deficit in the third set of the #2 singles contest. She won five of the last six games to thrillingly take down Nikolova and tie the overall match.

Over on Court 3, No. 4 Linnikova and No. 5 Heimen singles were in the thralls of what had become the decisive battle in the match.

Linnikova lost the first set 6-2 to Heimen but rallied for an emphatic 7-5 win in the second set to force a third.

The headline matchup of the contest between two of the best singles players in the country would come down to one final set to decide the match.

Linnikova blitzed Heimen out of the gate as she rolled to a 3-0 lead. Heimen steadied things with wins in three of the next four games to make it 4-3.

At 30-30 in the eighth game, Linnikova won a critical point as she snuck the ball past Heimen who charged the net. Then, a fortunate bounce won the set for Linnikova as her shot nicked the tape and bounced in bounds before Heimen could reach it.

Linnikova held a 5-3 lead in the final set and the Nighthawks could smell victory. After winning the first point, Linnikova utilized a beautiful backhand return to relocate Heimen nearly off the court. Heimen was able to return the ball back to Linnikova but had no chance to get to the next shot as UNG's top singles player switched back to the forehand and smoked the ball past her opposition. 30-0 Linnikova led before her next serve was returned into the net by Heimen. 40-0.

With both teams anxiously watching from the sideline, a long rally at 40-15 had both teams on pins and needles. Heimen appeared to have the advantage in the point as she consistently forced Linnikova to the backhand. Yet, Linnikova fought tooth and nail to keep returning the difficult shots. Eventually, Heimen smacked the ball with her forehand and charged closer to the net. Linnikova reached to her backhand once more, returned the ball to Heimen's off hand and celebrated the win as it sailed past her.

Linnikova's teammates stormed onto the court to celebrate with their senior leader. Linnikova finished off Heimen 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 to win her first match against a ranked opponent this season and fend off the comeback from Flagler to pull out the 4-3 win.

There's no slowing down for the Nighthawks as they now get ready for an 11 a.m. showdown in the semifinals against No. 5 Midwestern State tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 22. The winner will advance to the National Championship to face either No. 3 Embry-Riddle or No. 1 Barry.