The No. 1-ranked Emory University women's tennis team fell to in-state foe and top-ranked NAIA program Georgia Gwinnett College 6-3 on Sunday afternoon in the final game of the regular season. With the defeat, the Eagles saw their five-match winning streak come to halt, dropping to 23-5 overall, while the Grizzles improved to 14-2 on the campaign.
Georgia Gwinnett opened the match taking all three doubles points from Emory in three tightly contested matches. Juniors Paula Castro and Michelle Satterfield dropped an 8-6 decision in the third doubles match before sophomore Anna Fuhr and senior Madison Gordon lost to the top doubles duo in the NAIA, Valeria Podda and Sophie Feller, 9-7 on court no.1. Sophomore Bridget Harding and Katarina Su had their 12-match winning streak snapped in the no.2 doubles match, falling to the No. 3 NAIA doubles team, Chiara Di Salvo and Alyona Vasileva, 8-6.
In singles play, the Eagles split the six matches with the Grizzles. Satterfield put the Eagles on the scoreboard to make it 3-1 GGC with a convincing victory over Feller in the second singles match, 6-1, 6-0. Georgia Gwinnett reclaimed a three point edge as Harding fell in three sets to Podda, the No. 1 singles player in NAIA, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. Gordon then cut the deficit back down to two, winning her 19th straight singles match with a three set victory on court four, 1-6, 6-1, 6-3.
Klara Dohnalova earned the clinching point however for the Grizzles as she knocked off senior Beatrice Rosen in the no.3 singles match. Rosen trailed Dohnalova 5-3 in the decisive third set before forcing a tiebreaker but Dohnalova was able to come away with the 7-6 (6), 2-6, 7-6 (5) win.
In the final two singles matches on the afternoon, Castro triumphed in straight sets for the fifth singles point 6-3, 7-6 (2) and freshman Daniela Lopez was upended 6-3, 6-3 on the no.6 singles court.
The Eagles will turn their attention next to the 2016 NCAA Division III tournament that will begin on Friday, May 13th. Emory, already assured of a spot in the tournament by virtue of winning the UAA championship last weekend, will find out who its first round matchup will be when the draw is released on Monday, May 9th on NCAA.com. Be sure to check emoryathletics.com for dates and times when the championship draw is released next week.
Notes
Match was delayed almost 40 minutes during doubles as both teams moved to the indoor Woodruff PE Center courts because of inclement weather…Senior Madison Gordon became just the sixth Eagle ever to reach 80 career singles victories, tying teammate Beatrice Rosen for fifth place on the Emory all-time list.