SUMTER, S.C. – The Belmont Abbey women's tennis team closed out its 2022 season at the Conference Carolinas Tournament Friday afternoon at the Palmetto Tennis Center.
 
As the No. 7 seed, the Crusaders opened the tournament with a 4-3 victory over No. 6 seed Lees-McRae. That was followed by a match in the late afternoon against No. 3 seed Erskine, where the Flying Fleet earned a 4-3 win in that matchup.
 
Belmont Abbey closes the season with a 14-17 overall record.
 
Belmont Abbey 4, Lees-McRae 3
 
The Crusaders advanced out of the opening round with a 4-3 victory over No. 6 seed Lees-McRae Friday in a match that lasted nearly four hours.
 
Belmont Abbey took two of the three doubles matches to earn a doubles point with Kayla Vaughan/Lily Aranyos defeating the team of Nursharneem Shamsuddin/Anita Ivanova 7-6 (8) followed by a 6-3 win from the team of Laura Seib/Frankee Hendricks.
 
Hendricks went on to win her singles match 6-3, 6-4 over Zeynep Cariker while Paola Socarras earned a 6-4, 6-2 win over Shamsuddin in No. 4 singles.
 
It took until the No. 1 singles match to decide the winner as Kayla Vaughan defeated Mei Hiramitsu 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 to clinch the match. The Crusaders advanced to play the No. 3 seed Erskine in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.
 
Erskine 4, Belmont Abbey 3
 
The Flying Fleet won a pair of doubles matches to earn a point while the third match went unfinished.
 
Frankee Hendricks earned her third win of the day with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Szilvia Ferenczy in No. 2 singles play while Paola Socarras also won her second singles match with a 6-4, 6-4 win playing in the No. 5 spot. Erskine won four of the other matches to advance to the semifinals where they will face No. 2 seed Francis Marion on Saturday.