Emory University sophomore Gabrielle Clark won her first two matches of the singles draw, and later teamed with Zahra Dawson to win their opening doubles contest, advancing to the second day of the NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Individual Championships in Cary, NC.
Clark, seeded third in the singles draw, defeated Jennifer Newman of Amherst College in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, in her first round match, and followed that with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Amy Schlessman of Kenyon College in the second round.
In Friday's quarterfinals, Clark will face Washington and Lee University's Sonja Meighan. Clark bested Meighan 6-2, 6-4 when they met at first singles during the third round of the NCAA Team Championships on May 13th.
Wylie claimed a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Washington University's Natalie Tingir to advance to the second round, but suffered a 6-3, 6-4 loss to Lok-Sze Leung, the draw's top-seeded player.
In doubles action, Emory's second seeded duo of Clark and Dawson rolled to a 6-2, 6-0 victory in their first-round match against Lee Ford and Nataly Mendoza of Skidmore College. They will face Alyssa Roberg and Courtney Lawless of Whitman College in the second round on Friday.
In other first round doubles action, sophomores Malavika Padmanabhan and Brenna Kelly were eliminated from competition with a 6-2, 6-2 loss to Kalla Schaefer and Alexandra Bayliss of the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater.
By virtue of winning a match at the NCAA Championships, Clark, Dawson and Wylie have assured themselves ITA All-America honors for the year. Clark and Dawson had previously claimed all-America honors this season by winning the Fall ITA Regional Championship.
Action at the NCAA Championships will resume tomorrow. The quarterfinal and semifinal matches of the singles draw will start at 10:00 AM, while the quarterfinals of the doubles draw will begin at 3:30 PM.
Clark and Dawson Advance to Day Two of the NCAA Individual Championships
Posted: May 24, 2012