The Emory University Women's Tennis program battled to a 5-4 decision over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in a matchup of two of the top three teams in the country on Sunday afternoon in Claremont, California. The top-ranked Eagles moved to 6-3 with their sixth-straight win while the No.-3 ranked Athenas fell to 16-2.
"This was a great weekend for us, coming back from a two-week hiatus from competition," Head Coach Amy Bryant said following the team's come-from-behind victory. "We worked hard on managing momentum swings in close and intense matches while facing some great opponents and we feel good about how we are improving."
Emory fell behind 4-3 in the match as CMS claimed three of the first four singles matches, leaving the balance of the match to the results at first and second singles. Senior Bridget Harding used a dominating 6-2 decision in the third set to tie the match at four, winning her second singles match 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.
At first singles, freshman Ysabel Gonzalez-Rico dropped the first set 6-2 before rebounding in the second, winning via tiebreak 7-6 (1) to force a decisive third set for the match. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps' Catherine Allen jumped out to a 4-3 lead in the final set but Gonzalez-Rico was able to rally and take the final three points for the win.
Freshman Defne Olcay notched the Eagles' other singles victory as she needed three sets to down Caroline Cox 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 at fifth singles.
In doubles, Emory recorded wins on courts one and two to begin the match. On court two, senior Anna Fuhr and freshman Stephanie Taylor posted an 8-1 win while Gonzalez-Rico and Harding were victorious, 8-6, at first doubles. The win marked the 100th career doubles victory in Harding's career as she became just the fourth player in team history to reach the century mark and now sits in sole possession of fourth place on the all-time leaderboard.
"Bridget has become quite a doubles player as her development over the last four seasons has been tremendous," Bryant stated about her senior captain. "It's nice to see that her great work ethic, both on and off, the court is earning her well-deserved recognition."
The Eagles return to Atlanta for two matches at the Woodruff PE Center this weekend, beginning with Charleston Southern on Friday, March 30th at 3:00 PM.