Emory University’s Zahra Dawson and Lorne McManigle defeated Taylor Mannix and Arianna Mokhtari of the University of California, Santa Cruz in straight sets to advance to the semifinals of the NCAA Division III Women’s Tennis Doubles Tournament.

Dawson and McManigle, seeded second overall in the bracket, defeated the duo from UC Santa Cruz 6-4, 6-1, to move up in the tournament.  The win brought the pair’s doubles record to 21-12 on the season, including a 7-2 mark in tournament matches.

Emory’s pair will face Marta Drane and Kristin Cobb of Denison University, the fourth seeded pair in the bracket, on Sunday.  The two pairing have faced off twice already this season, with Emory prevailing 8-4 in the first match on February 27^th, and losing 8-6 on Tuesday during the quarterfinals of the NCAA Team Championships.

Should the Eagles advance they will face the winner of the match between top-seeded Julia Browne and Meghan McCooey of Tufts University and third-seeded Kendra Higgins and Chrissy Hu of the University of Chicago in the finals, immediately after the conclusion of the semifinal matches.

Doubles action will begin after the singles championship is completed at the Battleground Athletic Complex in Fredericksburg, VA.