The Emory University women's tennis team has advanced to the NCAA Division III semifinals following its 5-0 victory over Southwestern University Monday afternoon at the Champions Tennis Club in Chattanooga, TN.
It will be the 12th consecutive time the Eagles will be among the final four teams vying for the national championship and 21st time overall in program history. Emory will oppose Tufts University in the semifinals Tuesday morning, starting at 10:00 AM. The Jumbos knocked off host Sewanee, 5-1, in the other later quarterfinal match on Monday.
The Eagles jumped out to a quick 2-0 start against the Pirates as Emory dropped just three games across the top two doubles matches. Ysabel Gonzalez-Rico and Katie Chang improved to 10-0 as they handled their opponents 8-1 on court one before Christina Watson and Stephanie Taylor won their fourth in a row at No. 2 doubles, posting the 8-2 win.
The third doubles match was back-and-forth in the early goings before Ana Cristina Perez and Lauren Yoon pulled away late, winning the final four points for the 8-4 decision to give Emory another sweep in doubles.
Gonzalez-Rico opened the singles portion with a victory at the No. 1 spot, defeating Nina Mitrofanova in straight sets 6-1, 6-1. The match concluded with Watson's win on court two as she bested Esther Brown by 6-3, 6-1 count to seal the victory.
At the conclusion of the match, the Eagles held leads in the remaining four matches with Taylor in front 7-5, 4-4 at third singles, Perez 6-1, 2-1 on court four, Defne Olcay 6-4, 2-3 on court five and Jessica Fatemi 6-2, 2-4 at sixth singles.
Fans can follow the semifinal match tomorrow with live stats and video which can be found here: https://sewaneetigers.com/tournaments/tennis/2020-21/index.