The Emory University women's tennis team fell in the opening round of the ITA National Indoor Championships Friday morning, 5-4, to MIT. This year's tournament is being held at the Top Seed Tennis Club in Nicholasville, Kentucky.

Sophomore Eliza McPherron and freshman Iris Berman opened the doubles portion of the match with an 8-4 decision on court three but back-to-back results of 8-5 and 8-7 (8) on the top two courts send the Engineers into singles with a 2-1 advantage.

MIT built a 3-1 lead with a straight set win at the first position but wins by Berman (6-4, 6-3) and senior Alexa Goetz (6-2, 3-6, 6-2) helped the Eagles back into the match.

A win at the third spot pushed MIT in front 4-3 but freshman Emily Kantrovitz helped keep the Eagles alive with her 7-5, 1-6, 6-1 result at second singles.

With score knotted at 4-4, the match came down to the fourth court between McPherron and MIT's Jay Lu. McPherron rebounded with a 7-5 second set win after dropping set one, 6-4, but ultimately fell in three as Lu picked up the clincher, 6-3, in the finale set.

With the defeat, the Eagles slip to the consolation rounds and will take on UAA foe Case Western Reserve at 9:00 AM EST on Saturday.