CLAREMONT, Calif. -
Lindsay Eisenman came back after dropping the first set for a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 win in the NCAA Singles Quarterfinals, and
Alisha Chulani and
Rebecca Kong came back from down 3-1 in the third by winning the final five games, as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's tennis team will have representation in the semifinals of both singles and doubles tomorrow at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center.
Eisenman faced Lane Durkin of Wesleyan, who came in on a 22-match winning streak since her last loss in the fall ITA Regionals to Fiona Lee of MIT. Durkin took the first set 6-3, but Eisenman got off to a fast start in the second set, roaring out to a 5-0 lead. Durkin took two games to prolong the set, but Eisenman finished it out to get the split, and then took the second set 6-3.
A year ago, Eisenman went to the national championship match of the ITA Cup in the fall, and she stands one win away from reaching the same match in the NCAA Championships, and two matches away from winning the singles title.
Chulani and Kong FACED Eleanor Archer and Caitlin Bui of WashU, who were part of the team national championship win on Friday. the Athenas trailed in the first set, but came back to take a late lead and ended up winning the first set in a 7-3 tiebreaker. The Athenas went up 4-3 in the second set, but WashU won the last three games to take the match into a third set.
The Bear duo got an early break and had momentum on their side up 3-1 in the third, but Chulani and Kong responded and went ahead 4-3. They earned their second straight service break to go ahead 5-3, getting ahead 0-40 and then winning the game on their third try, and then Kong served it out at love, with Chulani winning three of the four points with volleys.
Chulani and Kong will next face Olivia Soffer and Matia Cristiani of Babson, the defending national champions, who defeated Chulani and
Nikolina Batoshvili (who graduated last year) in a three-setter in the championship. That match will take place at 1 p.m., after Eisenman takes on Emily Kantrovitz of Emory in the singles semifinals at 10 a.m. Tuesday's championship round will be held on Tuesday, with the singles match at 10 a.m. and the doubles match at noon.
