Despite a furious rally, the No. 2-ranked Emory women's tennis team fell short in its bid to defend its University Athletic Championships title Sunday afternoon as No. 6 Chicago edged the Eagles in the title match.  Playing under sunny skies and searing temperatures that approached 90 degrees, the Maroons brought home their second league crown in three seasons as they staved off Emory to claim a 5-4 win.  The setback ended a five-match win streak for the Eagles and dropped their record to 15-5 while Chicago upped its mark to 19-4.

For just the second time this year in a Division III match, Emory came out on the short end in doubles with Chicago taking all three points.    Emory's No. 1 team of Gabrielle Clark and Zahra Dawson lost their first D-III match of the year with UC's Kendra Higgins and Carmen VacaGuzman battling to a 9-7 triumph.

The Eagles fell behind by a 4-0 count after Chicago claimed the first singles point at the No. 5 spot.  However, Emory began to mount its comeback with Jordan Wylie and Malavika Padmanabhan posting wins at Nos. 2 and 4, respectively, which cut the gap to 4-2. Wylie bested Jennifer Kung, 7-6, (7-1), 6-4, in seeing her spring record go to 9-6 (7-4 at No. 2) while Padmanabhan recorded a 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) outcome against Linden Li, her ninth win in 11 decisions this spring. 

Clark kept Emory's hopes alive with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 decision at first singles against Kendra Higgins, her ninth win in 12 attempts this spring, while freshman Lauren Pinsky knotted the match at 4-4 after claiming a come-from-behind triumph at the No. 6 spot against Kelsey McGillis, 1-6, 6-3, 7-5.

The deciding point of the bout came down to No. 3 singles with Emory's Dawson taking on VacaGuzman.  After splitting the first two sets, and with VacaGuzman holding a 4-3 edge in the third set, Dawson medically retired with muscle cramps, allowing UC to come away with the point and the win.

The victory allowed Chicago to capture the league's automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Tournament that begins May 11.   Head coach Amy Bryant and her squad will hear about the at-large bids on Monday, May 7, at www.ncaa.com.