The title hopes for the third-ranked Emory University women’s tennis team came to an end on Wednesday afternoon, as the Eagles dropped a 5-3 decision to top-ranked Amherst College in the semifinals of the NCAA Division III Championships in Claremont, CA.

The loss was just the second of the season against a Division III team for the Eagles, who fell to 22-5 on the year.  Emory’s other D-III loss this season came against Williams College, the other participant in tomorrow’s championship match.  Amherst improved to 20-2 with the win.

Emory jumped out to a 2-0 lead over Amherst with wins at first and second doubles.  The first to finish was the second doubles match, where junior Zahra Dawson and sophomore Jordan Wylie, ranked sixth in the Atlantic South Region, defeated Natasha Brown and Laura Danzig, 8-4.

Moments, later, Emory’s regionally fourth-ranked senior Lorne McManigle and freshman Gabrielle Clark defeated the top-ranked team in the Northeast Region of Jordan Brewer and Gabby Devlin, 9-8.  The Eagles trailed in the match 7-6, but were able to break Amherst’s serve, and Clark followed by winning her own serve to give the Eagles an 8-7 lead.  After the Lord Jeffs were able to even the match with the next game, the Eagles would win the tiebreaker by a 7-4 score, giving Emory its second match victory.

The Eagles’ only loss in doubles play came in the third doubles match, where freshmen Malavika Padmanabhan and Brenna Kelly fell 9-7 to Mimi Bell and Caroline Richman.  It was the first match the Eagles have dropped during their NCAA Tournament run this season.

In a battle of two of the top regionally-ranked tennis players, Clark was able to extend Emory’s lead to 3-1 with a 6-2, 6-3 win in the first singles match over Jordan Brewer.  However, Dawson dropped a 6-3, 6-3, decision to Devlin in the fourth singles match, while Richman beat Padmanabhan 6-4, 6-2 to even the match at three apiece.  Amherst would gain its first lead of the match at 4-3 after Danzing defeated Wylie in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, putting the Eagles just a point away from a team loss.

The final two matches – McMaingle against Carlissa King, and Lindsay Reidenbach against Brown – each went into a third set, with Emory needing to win both to advance to the championship match.  However, McManigle fell 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to King to end the match.  Reidenbach was trailing in the third set as well, 6-3, 4-6, 3-2, when play was stopped.

The Eagles will play the fourth-ranked University of Chicago in the third-place match at 1:00 PM EDT tomorrow.  It will be the second-time in the last three seasons that the two University Athletic Association (UAA) schools have met in the third-place match, with Emory winning 5-1 in 2009.  The Eagles and the Maroons have met twice already this season, with Emory coming away with a 5-4 win on March 6^th to win the ITA Indoor Championship, and a 5-2 win on April 24^th to claim the UAA Championship.