The College of Charleston women’s tennis team will play against No. 2 seed North Texas in the UTR Sports NIT Championship Quarterfinals on May 5 at the Rome Tennis Center in Rome, Georgia.
The match is part of an eight-team single elimination tournament running from May 5 to May 7. The NIT Championship, launched by UTR Sports in 2023, aims to provide men’s and women’s teams with postseason experience.
Head Coach Angelo Anastopoulo said, “I’m really proud of the Cougars for receiving a postseason invitation to the NIT. North Texas is a strong school and it will be a great challenge. We’re excited to be out there one more time.” This matchup marks the first-ever meeting between Charleston and North Texas.
Anastopoulo has announced his retirement after serving as head coach for 35 years and as Director of Tennis for 24 years at College of Charleston. He said, “What I’ve learned over the course of my career is that it takes a village to run a successful program. I want to thank the many people and staff who helped our players physically and academically, the individual who strung all of our rackets, the staff at Patriots Point, the groundskeepers, the generous donors, the wonderful alumni, all the tennis officials and the many talented assistant coaches who helped coach our teams.” Anastopoulo will retire after coaching this tournament.
North Texas finished their season with a record of 17-8 and reached their conference tournament quarterfinals before losing to Rice. Junior Carolina Laydner received an American All-Conference selection with a record of 15-3 overall.
Five Charleston players earned Colonial Athletic Association postseason honors this year across singles and doubles categories. If Charleston wins its quarterfinal match against North Texas, they will advance to play either Arkansas State or McNeese State in Wednesday’s semifinals.
