Tweet #theGAC  BENTONVILLE, Ark. – For the first time since 2016, the Arkansas Tech women's tennis team will play in the championship match of the Great American Conference Women's Tennis Tournament after they defeated No. 5-seed Henderson State, 4-1, on Saturday afternoon in semifinal round action.

The No. 49-ranked Golden Suns (12-7) started the match off with the Reddies (13-7) strong by securing the doubles point.

In doubles action, the No. 3 pairing of Madalena Amil and Melanie Griffiths made quick work of their counterparts and won 6-1. Henderson leveled doubles action with a 6-3 win at No. 1. In the deciding doubles match, Daniela Baez and Sofia Beggiatto came from behind to force a tie-breaker that they ultimately won to win their match, 7-6 and give Tech the doubles point.

Now needing to win just three of the six singles matches, the Golden Suns achieved 1/3 of that goal relatively quickly as Second Team All-GAC selection Isabella Major won her No. 6 match in straight sets, 6-0, 6-3.

The Reddies then secured what would turn out to be their lone point of the match, winning 6-4, 6-0 at No. 5 singles.

The shortly thereafter, the Golden Suns picked up their third point as Second Team All-GAC pick, Madalena Amil overcame a set one defeat and upended her opponent in three sets, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.

The remaining three singles courts were gripped in tight battles.

At No. 2, First Team All-GAC selection, Daniela Baez split her sets 4-6, 6-4 and was about to engage in a third set before her match was left unfinished. The same was the case for Aastha Darduge at No. 3 singles as she split her first two sets, 2-6, 6-4. Unlike Baez, however, Dargude was up 3-2 in her tiebreaking set prior to it going unfinished.

Both of those matches went unfinished because the battle of the top-two singles players in the GAC went the way of the Golden Suns.

That epic top-flight matchup featured HSU's Mulan Kamoe and Tech's Lea Grinberg. Both were nationally-ranked singles players according to the ITA with Kamoe ranking 16th and Grinberg 35th. Both were unanimous First Team All-GAC selections this year and both can claim GAC Player of the Year honors with Grinberg winning the award last season and Kamoe this season.

Heading into this highly-touted singles match, the advantage leaned in favor of Kamoe as she had won all three of the previous meetings between the two this season.

That, of course, all ended on Saturday, as Grinberg out-dueled Kamoe to clinch the match for the Golden Suns. Grinberg did not trail at any point in the match and won the first set 7-5 and then capped it with an impressive 6-2 win in set two.

The Golden Suns will now vie for the GAC's automatic bid into the Central Region Tournament on Sunday as they will take on No. 3-seed Southeastern Oklahoma. The Savage Storm advanced themselves to the championship match after dispatching of No. 2-seed Southern Arkansas, 4-0.

The title match is slated to begin at 1 p.m. from Memorial Park in Bentonville.