Welcome Back: Women’s Tennis Returns to the National Rankings for the First Time in Six Years

3/13/2025 12:00:00 AM

Goldey-Beacom, which had a decorated fall season that featured three all-conference selections, has been ranked 49th in the country according to the latest poll from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.

It is the first time the Lightning have cracked the national poll since closing the 2018-19 season 44th. That squad advanced to the "Sweet 16" of the NCAA Tournament to mark the furthest a Goldey-Beacom team has gone in an NCAA sponsored event.

The program's highest finish at the end of the campaign was 31st in the 2014-15 season.

One of the major reasons for this ranking is freshman Sofia Lopez (Bogota, Colombia), who has been a solid addition to the program and was picked first team All-Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. She owns a 12-0 singles record that includes 10-0 at fifth singles and an 8-3 mark at No. 1 doubles. Ten of her singles wins were in straight sets and four were "double bagels."

Lopez needs just five more singles wins this season to reach the school's single-season top-10 list.

Also being named first team all-league was junior Zehra Canbaz (Denizli, Turkiye), one of the squad's focal players for several years. She has a 9-4 singles record that includes 7-4 at No. 2 singles and 9-3 at doubles that includes 5-2 at No. 2. She notched eight of her singles victories in straight sets and had a six-match winning streak in singles.

Bernard Flowers, in his fourth season, was picked CACC Coach of the Year after guiding GBC (9-4, 7-3 CACC) to a second-place finish in the league. It was Goldey-Beacom's best conference showing since 2019-20, when it played in the CACC final.

Junior Nahomi Quinonez (Manta, Ecuador) is 10-3 in doubles to go with an 8-4 mark in singles. Senior Lucia Corte (Gijon, Spain) owns a 9-3 single record and a 7-5 doubles mark.

Goldey-Beacom possesses a rich tennis history, winning two CACC titles and appearing in the NCAA Tournament eight times. GBC also made the CACC Tournament 12 consecutive years from 2008-19 with all appearances resulting in at least a semifinal berth.

Goldey-Beacom on Wednesday is home against Shippensburg for a 3:00 pm match at Delcastle Tennis Center.

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