ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – Some seasons are forever remembered in a program's history. Such seasons don't necessarily end with a championship. For the University of North Georgia women's tennis team, that was the case in 2024 as their best season in program history came to an end in the National Semifinals against No. 2 Nova Southeastern. 

The Nighthawks fell 4-0 to the Sharks on Thursday in a hard fought match that just didn't go their way. However, this year's team proved what the program is capable of and set a level of attainable expectations for the future. 

"I told them after the match, it's not only about today, it's kind of the culmination of this season and what they did," said head coach Kent Norsworthy. "There were so many moments this year where we had adversity and we had to win some really tough 4-3s to even get to this point." 

The opportunity for UNG to take down last year's National Championship Runner Up began in the doubles matches early in the day. 

Unfortunately, the Nighthawks fell behind 5-1 quickly in both #1 and #2 doubles. On the #3 doubles court, UNG's winningest doubles tandem of senior Valentina Ascarrunz and Caroline Reis held a 3-2 advantage. 

As the games progressed, seniors Johanna Lippert and Viktorie Wojckiova snagged a win in the #1 spot to make it 5-2. However, they lost the next set to Intercollegiate Tennis Association's No. 2 women's doubles pairing in Natalie Espinal and Freya Davies. 

Senior Svetlana Teterina and junior Angelina Linnikova were able to pick up a pair of wins to make it 5-3 in their match before dropping the final game and losing 6-3. 

Heading into singles play, UNG trailed 1-0. This was not unfamiliar territory for the Nighthawks as they had already previously come back from losing the doubles point three times this season. 

Needing four singles wins, UNG got off to a good start as the #3, #4, #5 and #6 singles matches all led in the opening set at one point. 

While Linnikova and Wojcikova fell behind and dropped the first set of their #1 and #2 singles matches respectively, Lippert got a good start with a 3-2 lead in the #3 singles contest. 

At the same time, Ascarrunz pulled in front of the #6 singles match 5-4 in the opening set while junior Ashley Moinard gained an early 5-4 lead at #4 singles. Teterina dominated the opening set of her #5 singles match, winning 6-2 to help the cause. 

Nova proved its tenacity however as the Sharks stormed back in a number of singles matches. 

At #6, Ita Habekovic won three straight games to steal the first set from Ascarrunz 7-5. Davies then came back against Lippert and won the first set of #3 singles. Linnikova and Wojcikova had each already dropped the opening set of their singles matches. 

As the contests aged into their second sets, the situation became dire for UNG. 

Linnikova fell 6-0, 6-1 to ITA No. 2 Espinal, securing Nova's first singles win and a 2-0 lead. As Lippert and Davies competed in a heated battle, Davies pulled away for a 6-4, 6-1 victory. Just minutes later, Wojcikova faced match point against ITA No. 18 Lexi Weir. 

After having lost the first set 6-3 and trailing 5-3 in the next, Wojcikova's return shot went past the baseline as the Sharks secured the win to get back to the National Championship for the second consecutive season. 

The Nighthawks' season was over, and while it didn't end in the fashion they had hoped, the seven members to suit up in the blue and white this year will not soon forget the run they went on this year.

"The season as a whole was just something that we can never forget," said Norsworthy. "They're a very resilient group and they just continued to push forward, so I couldn't be more proud." 

When stepping back and putting pen to paper regarding what this team accomplished this season, one realizes it's truly a remarkable feat. 

Before this year, UNG had just two players in program record history win 20 or more singles matches in one season. This year they had three players do so. One of them, Linnikova, earned the highest ITA singles ranking in program history at No.6 in the country, before tying the all-time program record with 22 singles wins on the season. 

They had those same three singles players (Linnikova, Ascarrunz and Moinard) record three of the top-5 best singles seasons in program history. With a 21-2 record and a .913 winning percentage, Moinard and Ascarrunz are now tied for the single best season in singles play in UNG women's tennis history. 

The historic accolades continue into doubles play. As mentioned, with 23 wins this year for Reis and Ascarrunz, the two secured more wins in doubles play in one season than any player had ever done before. Their .884 winning percentage absolutely shattered the previous best mark in school history. Linnikova and Teterina also combined to go 18-5 in doubles this year, marking the third-best doubles season in program history by winning percentage standards. 

"Jo [Lippert] and Lana [Teterina], our four year [players]; just amazing human beings. You couldn't ask for better people and that's the important thing. They did a lot of work this year and I'm proud of them and it's going to be awesome to see them move on to their next stages," said Norsworthy.

Lippert became the winningest singles player in program history this week in the NCAA Tournament. With her two wins against Charleston and Academy of Art, she totaled 54 singles wins in her career, passing UNG alum Vaishali Jorge who racked up 52 wins from 2017-2022. Lippert also tied Jorge for the most individual doubles wins in program history with 56 over her four years.

Teterina also earned 36 career singles wins which now stands fifth all-time in Nighthawk women's tennis history. 

No team before had ever won 19 consecutive matches. No team had ever won 25 total matches. No team had ever won the Peach Belt Conference Tournament. No team had ever advanced past the Elite Eight. This team did. And they will forever be remembered for it.