Kansas City, MO – The University of the Cumberlands women's tennis team climbed one spot to No. 14 in the latest NAIA Coaches' Poll, earning 165 points following a strong opening stretch to the spring season. 

Since the previous rankings, the Patriots faced a demanding slate that included a matchup against No. 5 Tennessee Wesleyan before picking up back-to-back victories over Lincoln Memorial and Carson-Newman. 

Cumberlands opened the spring with a tough 6–1 loss to nationally ranked Tennessee Wesleyan in Knoxville, Tennessee. Despite the final score, several matches went the distance, highlighted by Marina Nagai pushing Ruslana Kovalenko to an 11–9 third-set super tiebreak at No. 1 singles. Rion Yanuma secured UC's lone point with a straight-set win at No. 6, as the Patriots showed resilience across the lineup against one of the nation's top programs. 

The Patriots rebounded Friday with a 4–2 victory over Lincoln Memorial in Harrogate, Tennessee. After dropping the doubles point, Cumberlands surged in singles play behind wins from Nagai at No. 1, Mahiro Hara at No. 4, Haruna Kojima at No. 2, and YuFang Liu at No. 5. Liu clinched the match in a three-set battle to give UC its first win of the season. 

Cumberlands carried that momentum into Saturday's 5–2 win over Carson-Newman. The Patriots swept doubles to take an early lead and followed with four singles victories. Bryndis Rosa and Hara delivered dramatic three-set wins at Nos. 3 and 4, respectively, while Liu added a straight-set victory at No. 5. Eva Cancarevic sealed the match with a win at No. 6. 

Cumberlands joins several Mid-South Conference programs in the national rankings, including Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) at No. 2 and Cumberland (Tenn.) at No. 23, while Bethel (Tenn.) received votes. 

UC will be back on the courts on February 21, where they will travel to Lawrenceville, GA to compete in the Grizzly Invitational. Their first match is scheduled for 9:00 AM against SCAD Savannah.   

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