Tweet #theGAC  BENTONVILLE, Ark. – Southeastern Oklahoma State and Harding, the top two seeds for the Great American Conference Women’s Tennis Championships, got past Henderson State and Arkansas Tech, respectively, on Friday, to move to the title match.
 
The Savage Storm (17-2) won their 12th-straight contest with a 5-1 victory against the Reddies. They opened with an 8-1 win from Maria Martinez and Luisa Auffarth from the No. 3 spot. The Reddies (6-9), in their first appearance in the semifinals, claimed their lone point at when Annie Shannon and Thea Minor beat Alexsandra Reljic and Darija Catipovic, the region’s No. 8 doubles tandem, 8-6, at No. 1 doubles. Southeastern grabbed the final doubles point with an 8-3 win by Anna Buiukian and Samantha Coquinos.
 
In singles, Martinez got past Mariah Bartlett, 6-1, 6-0, at No. 5 followed by an Auffarth win, 6-4, 6-1, at No. 6 against Lauren Miller. In a rematch with Shannon at No. 1 singles, Reljic clinched the victory with a 6-1, 6-1 win.

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The Lady Bisons (15-6) earned its first trip to the finals of the GAC Championship since winning the title in 2014 by beating the Golden Suns for the second time in five days, 5-3.
 
Arkansas Tech (16-8) picked up the first point of the match when Annabel Rowlands and Kami Ward defeated Gabriella Alves and Milou Dalmolen, 8-2. Harding, however, rallied to notch the other two doubles points as Piper Huey and Laura Golubic, the region’s No. 6 doubles squad, bested Macarena Sedano Acosta and Teresa Sanchez, 8-3, followed by an 8-6 win by Brittany Smyser and Arielle Butler against Haeleigh Long and Vandella Suico.
 
Butler came back in the singles completion and scored a 7-5, 6-1 win against Long from the No. 5 position to increase the Harding lead to 3-1. Rowlands cut into the deficit as she defeated Smyser, 6-3, 6-3 in the match at No. 4.
 
Huey pushed the Lady Bisons to the brink of clinching the match as she beat Macarena Sedano Acosta 7-6 (7-2), 6-1 in a matchup of two of the Central Region’s top 20 players. Tech remained alive when Ward won a three-set affair with Alves, 6-1, 0-6, 6-4. Harding secured the victory when Laura Golubic rallied after dropping the first set, 4-6, 6-2, 6-0, against Teresa Sanchez.
 
The Savage Storm and Lady Bisons will meet at 2 p.m. Southeastern Oklahoma State won the regular-season meeting, 6-3 on April 8. The winner will join East Central as the only multiple-time champions of the event.