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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – An RBI single in the first inning from SEC Player of the Year Meghan Gregg proved to be the difference as the 2017 NCAA Knoxville Regional host and No. 8 national seed Tennessee outlasted a Herculean Longwood effort for a 3-0 win in the regional final Sunday afternoon from Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.

With the win, Tennessee (47-10) moves on to its ninth Super Regional all-time next weekend against SEC foe Texas A&M while the season comes to an end for Longwood (30-29) in the second straight in the NCAA Regional Championship game appearance.

"Tennessee earned the game today," said Longwood head coach Kathy Riley. "They played well, Matty Moss pitched very well, and the hitters put together enough pressure on us and scored three runs, so they deserved to win. But I thought it was a good, hard fought battle."

As part of a two-hit day with two RBI, Gregg went deep for a third-straight game with a solo shot in the top of the fourth inning that handed Tennessee a 2-0 lead and helped the Volunteer junior tie the program's all-time RBI record. Gregg, who was named SEC Player of the Year, collected both RBI for the Volunteers which was enough for sophomore right handed pitcher Matty Moss (25-2) who worked a complete game shutout for a second time in a span of three days against Longwood.

Sunday's loss also ends the storied careers of Justina Augustine, Jenna Carnes and two-time Big South Pitcher of the Year Elizabeth McCarthy.

The class of Augustine, Carnes and McCarthy end their career as one of the most decorated classes in program history, becoming three of Longwood's 10 all-time players to compete in three NCAA Regionals. Together, the group was part of two of Longwood's three 40-win seasons and helped the Lancers advance to the first two NCAA Regional Championship games in the program's storied history.

"All seniors mean a lot to any program," Riley said. "Anybody that makes that commitment – that goes through four years and puts in the time with the demands that we put on them, you have to have a tremendous amount of respect for them. All three of those girls are different in their personalities, but just the things they're willing to do in terms of sacrifice is pretty impressive and something we're really proud of them for."

McCarthy ends her career as one of Longwood's all-time greats, finishing atop the Longwood record books for all-time strikeouts with 651 over her four seasons in Farmville and second place on the program's all-time wins list with 76 career wins. In addition, McCarthy is among the top pitchers in Big South history, ranking among the top 10 in each category.

Sunday's valiant effort was just the latest example of a program that has proven that they belong on the big stage, under the bright lights and won't back down from a fight against even the top teams in the nation. Longwood is the only Big South program to make consecutive trips to the NCAA Regional Championship, and has also set the conference's all-time record for wins in NCAA postseason play with five.

"We came into this tournament with a goal that we were going to make it to the regional championship, and we achieved that goal," Augustine said. "Although we wish we could have won, it was nice to have that goal achieved."

Longwood's five NCAA postseason wins are also the second-most among the eight mid-major schools that have made postseason appearances the past three seasons.

Sunday's effort marked the end in a season in which Longwood overcame more than a half-season's worth of struggles to win 15 of their final 19 games of the season, including four of five in the five-day Big South Championship tournament to capture its third straight Big South Championship.

Sophomore sensation Sydney Gay (15-16) got the nod for Longwood Sunday, tip-toeing her way in-and-out of danger over 6.0 innings of two-run ball as she surrendered 10 hits and struck out five Tennessee batters.

The Lancer lineup was led by junior third baseman Krista Kelly who finished the afternoon 2-for-3 with a one-out double in the second and a two-out single in the fourth. Augustine, who recently made the transition from outfield to shortstop, collected the third Lancer hit of the day in her final appearance in the blue and white.

Jessica Smith picked up the fourth Lancer hit with a single to left field just one inning after gunning down a potential Volunteer run on her 14th assist of the season. Smith's cannon was the second of two stellar defensive plays as Kelly made a diving grab to rob extra bases from Aubrey Leach and end the second inning threat.

Tennessee added their final run of the game in the seventh on a Brooke Vines RBI single back up the middle pushed across Jenna Holcomb. That run was surrendered by junior Sydney Mundell, who worked 0.2 innings allowing two hits before McCarthy recorded the final out in her final appearance as a Lancer.

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