Laing Advances To Final Round Of Consolation, Falls 8-4

TUSCON, AZ – SMC women’s tennis team member Annastacia Laing made it all the way to the final consolation round in the NJCAA women’s tennis national championship before being eliminated from competition on Wednesday.AnnastaciaLaing-web-08.jpg

Laing (Bluffton HS / Bluffton, SC), a sophomore at SMC who will be graduating this Saturday and two-year member of the college’s women’s tennis team, was defeated Wednesday afternoon 8-4 by McKenzie McCullough of the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith.

“The other girl just played a little better in that match,” says SMC tennis coach Rodney McAlister.

Laing won her Wednesday morning match 8-2 against Courtney Diebold of Kalamazoo Valley Community College.

Freshman team member Courtney Nutt (Byrnes HS / Moore, SC) fell out of singles contention on Monday after a loss in her second round.

“It’s great to do as well as we did in the national tournament. For a first-year coach to go to nationals is a high honor. But the best part of it is seeing the experience these girls have had out here and knowing what they'll take away from it,” he adds.

McAlister commented that going to nationals was an invaluable learning experience from multiple standpoints.

“It’s helpful for both the players and the coaches. We’ll take what we’ve learned here and use that to help us improve our game for next year. When you come out here, you see how the other teams are playing and realize what you need to do to improve. Sometimes you can make adjustments during a match and turn it around like Courtney did on the first day,” he says.

“The competition has been good, the weather has been good, and I’m real pleased with how the tournament has gone and how our ladies have played. They’ve played their hearts out and I couldn’t be more proud. Not very many people get to compete in a national tournament while in college – and for our girls to be able to is something amazing. It gives them a desire to improve, move on to another school, and play even harder,” McAlister adds.

He adds that the SMC women’s team will miss the Laing and Nutt next year. Laing is undecided where she will be playing next year; Nutt will continue playing tennis at Lipscomb University, an NCAA Division I member of the Atlantic Sun Conference.

“We’re all going to miss them – but we wish them good luck,” says McAlister.

McAlister states the goal is to bring the SMC women’s tennis team back to the national championship next year.

Tuesday – Day Three

The SMC team remained at 29th place at the end of competition Tuesday, following Laing’s 803 quarterfinal consolation win over Eastern Arizona College’s Jessica Smith.

Also on Tuesday, Laing and Nutt lost 4-8 in the first round of doubles consolation to Seminole State College of Oklahoma and fell out of doubles contention.

Monday – Day Two

Laing and Nutt slipped from 24th to 29th place on Monday in Round 2 of the NJCAA national tournament.

Nutt was defeated 0-6, 2-6 by Jamie Blackim of Cowley Community College in the second round of the Division I #3 singles, while Laing had a bye in the consolation round on Monday.