The Emory University women's tennis team will be in search of its eighth NCAA Division III title as the final rounds of the NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Championships begin on Monday, May 24th at the Champions Tennis Club in Chattanooga, TN.
The Eagles (7-3) are set to face Southwestern (TX) (17-4) in the NCAA Quarterfinals, beginning at 11:00 AM EST Monday morning. Emory, appearing in its 13th consecutive contested quarterfinals and 30th overall, have won 11 straight Elite Eight matches and are 17-1 in their last 18 Round of Eight appearances.
The winner of the Emory-Southwestern match will meet either Tufts University (8-1) or host Sewanee (10-2) in the semifinals at 10:00 AM EST Tuesday morning.
On the other side of the bracket, defending national champion Wesleyan (CT) (8-0) is set to play Washington & Lee (16-2) while Kenyon (10-0) squares off against the University of Mary Washington (14-2). Both matches are slated for 8:30 AM EST starts on Monday.
The two semifinal winners will advance to play in the national championship at 10:00 AM EST on Wednesday.
For the Eagles, Ysabel Gonzalez-Rico, Christina Watson and Ana Cristina Perez have paced the team in singles with the trio leading the team with five wins each. Perez (5-2 in singles) was named the University Athletic Association Athlete of the Week for the first time in her career this week after leading the Eagles to NCAA opening round wins over Rhode Island College and Williams. Gonzalez-Rico (5-2) and Watson (5-3) will represent Emory in the individual singles championships which follows the team championships, beginning Friday, May 28th.
In doubles, the Eagles' two NCAA-bound pairings in Gonzalez-Rico/Katie Chang and Watson/Stephanie Taylor, have gone a combined 15-3 with Gonzalez-Rico and Chang going a perfect 9-0, playing primarily at the No. 1 position while Watson and Taylor have won three straight to up their overall record to 6-3. Last weekend's No. 3 tandem, Perez and Lauren Yoon, won both of their matches as they improved to 2-2 for the year.
Fans can follow the action of the quarterfinal, semifinal and championship rounds as well as the individual championships using live stats and video links which can be found on the championship website above.