The third-ranked Emory University women’s tennis team
picked up its third-straight shutout victory of the NCAA Division
III Championships with a 5-0 win over eighth-ranked Washington
& Lee University, as the Eagles advanced to Wednesday’s
semifinals where they will face top-ranked Amherst College.
The Eagles will head into the semifinal match with an overall
record of 22-4 after today’s victory, matching the
team’s win total from each of the last two seasons, the
second-highest mark in the program’s history.
Washington and Lee will end its season with an overall record of
20-7.
Emory’s second doubles pairing of junior Zahra
Dawson and sophomore Jordan Wylie scored
the first point of the match, defeating Washington and Lee’s
Jen Snyder and Ellen Yeatman 8-3. The Eagles’s
regionally sixth-ranked pairing got off to an early lead, but the
11th-ranked Generals came back, knotting the match at
three apiece. However, Dawson and Wylie won the next five
games in a row to claim the victory.
The first doubles match was a meeting between two of the
region’s top-ranked doubles teams, but Emory’s
fourth-ranked pairing of freshman Gabrielle Clark
and senior Lorne McManigle prevailed with an 8-3
upset over third-ranked Lauren Lukas and Trelsie Sadler. The
Eagles jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the match and never
looked back, leading by no less than three games the rest of the
contest.
The highlight of the doubles matches came from the third-doubles
contest, where freshmen Brenna Kelly and
Malavika Padmanabhan claimed a 9-8 (7-4)
tiebreaker victory for Emory over Washington & Lee’s Ann
Morris and Catherine Reed. The Eagles fell behind 5-1 early
in the match, but rallied to take a 7-6 lead. Morris and Reed
regained the lead at 8-7, but Kelly and Padmanabhan won their
eighth game to send the match into a best-of-seven
pro-set tiebreaker. The back-and-forth play between the
two teams continued into the tiebreaker, where the Generals notched
the first two points, but the Eagles battled back with
four-straight points, taking a 4-2 lead. The Generals again
scored two-straight, knotting the match at 4-4, but Emory scored
three straight to earn the victory and give Emory a 3-0 lead
heading into singles play.
Clark, the region’s top-ranked singles player, delivered the
fourth point of the game for Emory with a dominating 6-2, 6-0 win
in the first singles match over Yeatman, ranked sixth in the
Atlantic South. The victory was capped off by regionally
12th-ranked Dawson, who defeated Sadler 6-1, 6-1 in the
fourth singles match to clinch the team win.
When play was stopped, Emory’s McManigle was leading 6-2, 3-3
over Snyder in the third singles match, while Padmanabhan held a
6-1, 4-1 lead over Sallie Griffin in fifth singles, and senior
Lindsay Reidenbach won her first set 7-6 in sixth
singles over Reed. Wylie trailed Lukas by a set in second
singles, after losing the first frame 6-4.
The victory sets up a rematch of last year’s semifinal match
between Emory and Amherst, a contest that the Eagles came away from
with a 5-4 victory. The Eagles are 9-2 all time against the
Lord Jeffs, including a 5-1 mark during NCAA Championship
play. This will be the first meeting of the season between
the two teams.
Amherst claimed a victory over fifth-ranked Tufts University in its
quarterfinal match, winning 5-1.
This will be Emory’s 12th trip to the NCAA
semifinals. The Eagles are 7-4 all time in NCAA semifinal
matches.
Tomorrow’s match is slated for a 2:00 PM EDT start from the
Biszantz Family Tennis Center in Claremont, CA. The
championship and third-place matches are both scheduled for 1:00 PM
EDT on Thursday.
Emory Women’s Tennis Shuts Out Washington & Lee to Advance to NCAA Semifinals
Posted: May 24, 2011