Led by NCAA Singles Champion Gabrielle Clark,
the Emory University Women’s Tennis Team turned in one of the
most successful seasons in the program’s illustrious history
in 2014, winning its sixth NCAA Division III Championship and
setting a program record for wins in a year.
Other team highlights for the Eagles included a win at the 2014
University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships, marking the
team’s second-straight conference title, and an undefeated
record against Division III opponents during the year.
The Eagles claimed their first National Title since 2006 with a
5-1 win over Amherst College in the championship match. The
Eagles received wins from sophomore Beatrice Rosen
and junior Rebecca Siegler at second doubles and
senior Brenna Kelly and freshman Katarina
Su at third doubles, to take a 2-1 advantage over the Lord
Jeffs heading into singles play. Freshman Melissa
Goodman and Clark earned wins at the fourth and first
singles matches, respectively, and Su clinched the National
Championship with a victory at sixth singles.
The victory in the National Championship gave Head Coach
Amy Bryant the 300th victory of her
career (improving to 300-75 during her 15 years at the
Eagles’ helm), as she claimed her fifth NCAA Title as
Emory’s coach, to go along with one as a player for the
Eagles during the 1996 season. Bryant was later named the
CaptainU Coach of the Year for NCAA Division III Women’s
Tennis.
Emory, which finished the season on a 16-match winning streak,
failed to drop more than one match to an opponent in an NCAA
Tournament meeting, including 5-0 wins over Berry College and
19th-ranked Washington and Lee University in Atlanta,
and 5-1 wins over eighth-ranked Washington University (Mo.) in the
quarterfinals and fourth-ranked Johns Hopkins University in the
semifinals.
At the Individual National Championships, Clark capped off her
Emory career with her second NCAA Division III Singles
Championship, becoming just the fifth player in Division III
Women’s Tennis history and the second Eagle to win multiple
singles titles over a career. Clark, the tournament’s
top-seeded player, went 5-0 in the singles draw, winning each of
her matches in straight sets, and defeating Amherst’s Jordan
Brewer, the third-seeded player, 6-2, 6-1 in the finals to claim
the title. In addition, she teamed with freshman
Michelle Satterfield to reach the semifinals of
the doubles draw, after entering the tournament as the
fourth-seeded pair.
Emory’s 28 wins during the spring surpassed the previous
program record for victories in a season of 24, set in 2003 and
2004. The Eagles’ only two losses during the year came
to Division II opponents Barry University and Lynn University,
which finished their seasons ranked first and fifth among D-II
teams, respectively. Emory was a perfect 20-0 against
Division III teams during the year, including a 13-0 mark against
ranked Division III opposition, and an 8-0 record when facing D-III
teams that finished the year ranked in the top-10 nationally.
In Altamonte Springs, Florida, Emory cruised to its
25th UAA Championship in 27 years of conference
competition, defeating New York University 9-0 in the
quarterfinals, the 12th-ranked University of Chicago 9-0
in the semifinals, and seventh-ranked Carnegie Mellon University
8-1 to win the title. Clark was named the UAA Most Valuable
Player for the third time in her career, becoming just the second
player in UAA women’s tennis history to win at least three
conference MVP awards. Satterfield became the second-straight
Emory player and fifth overall to be named the UAA Rookie of the
Year, while Bryant and Assistant Coach Christy Striplin Lynch were
named the UAA Coaching Staff of the Year.
Clark was named the Division III Senior Player of the Year by the
Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), and finished the year
ranked first in the national singles rankings and fourth in the
doubles rankings. She ended her career tied with former Eagle
Mary Ellen Gordon with 219 combined (singles and doubles wins), and
was the Eagles’ all-time leader in doubles victories with a
111-34 record. In addition, Clark was just the second player
in school history to reach the century mark in singles wins with a
108-21 career record.
Other Eagles to finish the year ranked nationally in singles play
were Satterfield (34th) and Rosen
(36th). Satterfield ended her inaugural campaign
as an Eagle with a 28-7 singles record, tying with Su for the most
singles wins during the year, who notched a 28-1 singles record,
including a 20-0 mark in the spring and wins in each of her last 26
singles matches. Clark (24-4), Goodman (23-9) and sophomore
Madison Gordon (22-9) were each 20-match winners
in singles play as well. In doubles action, Satterfield
finished with a 31-9 record, tying for the second-most doubles wins
in a single season in Emory history, while Clark (25-9) and Kelly
(24-13) each added 20-win doubles campaigns.
In the fall, Satterfield became the first Emory freshman to win
the singles draw at an USTA/ITA Fall South Region Championship
since Serena Burkard in 2004, and just the third overall in the
program's history, along with Mary Ellen Gordon in 2000. She
went on to win the Division III singles draw of the ITA Fall Small
College National Championships, becoming just the second Emory
freshman and fifth Eagle overall to accomplish the feat.
Satterfield also teamed with Siegler to win the doubles draw at the
ITA Fall South Regionals, as the duo finished third at the Small
College National Championships.
The Eagles earned the following honors during the 2013-14
season:
NCAA D-III National Champion |
|||
Gabrielle Clark |
Chicago, IL (Univ. of Chicago Lab) |
Singles |
|
|
|||
All-America (Intercollegiate Tennis Association) |
|||
Gabrielle Clark |
Chicago, IL (Univ. of Chicago Lab) |
Singles (Spring), Doubles (Spring) |
|
Michelle Satterfield |
Paradise Valley, AZ (Tesseract) |
Singles (Fall), Doubles (Fall & Spring) |
|
Rebecca Siegler |
Boca Raton, FL (Saint Andrew’s) |
Doubles (Fall) |
|
|
|||
NCAA Championship Participant |
|||
Gabrielle Clark |
Chicago, IL (Univ. of Chicago Lab) |
Singles (National Champion), Doubles (Semifinals) |
|
Michelle Satterfield |
Paradise Valley, AZ (Tesseract) |
Doubles (Semifinals) |
|
|
|||
ITA Division III Senior Player of the Year |
|||
Gabrielle Clark |
Chicago, IL (Univ. of Chicago Lab) |
||
|
|||
CaptainU NCAA Division III Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year |
|||
Amy Bryant |
|||
|
|||
ITA Division III Atlantic South Region Player of the Year |
|||
Gabrielle Clark |
Chicago, IL (Univ. of Chicago Lab) |
||
|
|||
University Athletic Association (UAA) Most Valuable Player |
|||
Gabrielle Clark |
Chicago, IL (Univ. of Chicago Lab) |
||
|
|||
UAA Rookie of the Year |
|||
Michelle Satterfield |
Paradise Valley, AZ (Tesseract) |
||
|
|||
UAA Coaching Staff of the Year |
|||
Head Coach |
Amy Bryant |
||
Assistant Coach |
Christy Striplin Lynch |
||
|
|||
All-UAA |
|||
Gabrielle Clark |
Chicago, IL (Univ. of Chicago Lab) |
No. 1 Singles, No.1 Doubles |
First Team |
Michelle Satterfield |
Paradise Valley, AZ (Tesseract) |
No. 3 Singles, No. 1 Doubles |
First Team |
Katarina Su |
Alpharetta, GA (Alpharetta) |
No. 6 Singles, No. 3 Doubles |
First Team |
Beatrice Rosen |
Manhattan Beach, CA (Hotchkiss, CT) |
No. 2 Singles |
First Team |
Melissa Goodman |
Lincoln, MA (Lincoln-Sudbury) |
No. 4 Singles |
First Team |
Madison Gordon |
New York, NY (Horace Mann) |
No. 5 Singles |
First Team |
Brenna Kelly |
North Oaks, MN (Mounds Park Academy) |
No. 3 Doubles |
First Team |
|
|||
ITA ‘Super Bowl’ Participant |
|||
Michelle Satterfield |
Paradise Valley, AZ (Tesseract) |
Singles (Semifinals) |
|
|
|||
ITA Fall Small College National Champion |
|||
Michelle Satterfield |
Paradise Valley, AZ (Tesseract) |
Singles |
|
|
|||
ITA Fall Small College National Participant |
|||
Michelle Satterfield |
Paradise Valley, AZ (Tesseract) |
Singles (Champion), Doubles (Third Place) |
|
Melissa Goodman |
Lincoln, MA (Lincoln-Sudbury) |
Singles (Seventh Place) |
|
Rebecca Siegler |
Boca Raton, FL (Saint Andrew’s) |
Doubles (Third Place) |
|
|
|||
ITA Fall South Regional Champion |
|||
Michelle Satterfield |
Paradise Valley, AZ (Tesseract) |
Singles, Doubles |
|
Rebecca Siegler |
Boca Raton, FL (Saint Andrew’s) |
Doubles |
|
|
|||
UAA Athlete of the Week |
|||
Gabrielle Clark |
Chicago, IL (Univ. of Chicago Lab) |
Mar. 3rd, Mar. 31st, Apr. 14th, May 12th |
|
Michelle Satterfield |
Paradise Valley, AZ (Tesseract) |
Sep. 30th, Oct. 14th, Apr. 7th |
|
Melissa Goodman |
Lincoln, MA (Lincoln-Sudbury) |
Mar. 10th |
|
Rebecca Siegler |
Boca Raton, FL (Saint Andrew’s) |
Feb. 24th |
|
Katarina Su |
Alpharetta, GA (Alpharetta) |
Oct. 28th |