2010-11 Emory Women's Tennis Season Recap

The Emory University women’s tennis team recorded its third-straight top-three finish and 11^th overall, claiming third at the 2011 NCAA Division III Championships.  In addition, the Eagles’ top doubles pairing of senior Lorne McManigle and freshman Gabrielle Clark finished second at the NCAA Championships.

The Eagles finished the season with an overall record of 23-5, marking the second-highest win total in school history, next to the 24-1 record from the 2003 and 2004 Emory teams.  After receiving a first-round by the in NCAA Tournament, the Eagles cruised through the next three rounds, defeating Agnes Scott College, the 17^th-ranked University of the South, and eighth-ranked Washington and Lee University, each by a 5-0 score.  The Eagles hit a snag in the semifinal round, falling 5-3 to eventual national runner-up Amherst College, but bounced back the next day, defeating the University of Chicago 5-3 in the third-place match.

In the individual draws of the NCAA Championships, Emory’s duo of McManigle and Clark entered the tournament as the third-seeded doubles team, and won three-straight matches to advance to the championship contest against fourth-seeded Jordan Brewer and Gabby Devlin of Amherst College.  However, the McManigle and Clark dropped a hard-fought 6-4, 7-6 (4) decision, marking the second-straight season an Emory team has finished second in the NCAA Division III Doubles Championships.

In the singles draw, Clark (the top-seeded player in the draw) advanced to the quarterfinals before seeing her tournament run come to an end.  Her teammate, sophomore Jordan Wylie, earned a straight-set win in her first round match, but fell in the round of 16 to the eventual NCAA Singles Champion, Kristin Lim of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges.  Both Clark and Wylie earned all-America honors for their singles play, and Clark was named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s (ITA) Rookie of the Year, the third in the history of the program.

Earlier in the year, the Eagles claimed their 23^rd University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship in 24 seasons, winning the conference title with a 5-2 victory over Chicago in the championship match.  For her efforts during the tournament, Clark was named both the UAA’s Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year, becoming just the third player in conference history to earn both honors during the same season.  Seven Eagles earned all-UAA honors in 2011, and Emory’s coaching staff of head coach Amy Bryant, assistant coach Meredith Vincent, and volunteer assistant Scott Briggs were named the UAA Coaching Staff of the Year.

Emory was dominant throughout the season, going 18-2 against Division III opponents, and at one point building a 14-match winning streak.  Of the Eagles’ 23 victories during the year, 10 were by shutout.

In the fall, Emory junior Zahra Dawson and McManigle combined to sweep the ITA Fall Regional Championships, giving the Eagles victories in both the singles and doubles draws for the fourth-consecutive year.  Dawson earned her first ITA Fall Singles Championship with a win over Clark in the championship match, and later teamed with McManigle to defeat Clark and freshman Brenna Kelly in the doubles final.  Dawson finished sixth in the singles draw of the ITA Fall Nationals, and claimed fourth with McManigle in the doubles draw. 

The Eagles earned the following honors during the 2010-11 season: