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Clark & Dawson Win Division III USTA/ITA National Small College Championships

Clark & Dawson Win Division III USTA/ITA National Small College Championships

Emory University sophomore Gabrielle Clark and senior Zahra Dawson claimed a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 win over top-seeded Laura Chen and Courtney Chin of Carnegie Mellon University to win the Division III doubles draw at the USTA/ITA National Small College Championships on Friday.

Clark and Dawson, who entered the draw as the third-seeded duo, become just the second pairing in the history of the Emory women's tennis program to win the Division III doubles draw, joining Mary Ellen Gordon and Jolyn Taylor, who won the event in 2002.

By winning the Division III draw, Clark and Dawson will advance to the 'Super Bowl,' which will include the winners of the Division II, NAIA and JUCO draws as well.  Emory will take on  Hermon Brhane and Lucie Sipkova of Oklahoma Christian University, the NAIA winners, in the semifinals of the 'Super Bowl' at 4:00 PM ET on Saturday, with the finals at 11:00 AM ET on Sunday.

The 'Super Bowl' winning team will earn a wild card entry into the USTA/ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships with the opportunity to win the culminating event held at the USTA-Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

Meanwhile, in singles play, Clark advanced to the finals of the NCAA Division III draw, beating third-seeded Kendra Higgins of the University of Chicago, 6-3, 6-1, in the semifinal match.  The Eagles' sophomore and second-overall seed in the tournament will advance to the championship match on Saturday, where she will face fourth-seeded Lok Sze Leung of Middlebury College at 9:30 AM ET.

Should Clark win the singles championship tomorrow, she will advance to the singles 'Super Bowl' semifinals on Saturday at 2:00 PM ET.

Fans can follow Saturday's action from the Copeland-Cox Tennis Center in Mobile, Alabama with Emory's twitter updates, at http://twitter.com/EmoryWTennis.