COLLEGE GROVE, Tenn. - For the second straight round the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's tennis team fell into a 1-0 after a doubles sweep, but responded to win a tight match in singles, as it defeated No. 1 ranked and defending national champion WashU in the semifinals of the ITA Indoor Championship on Saturday afternoon in Nashville. 

With the win, the Athens advance to the championship round, which will be held at 9 a.m. Pacific (11 a.m. local time). 

Bell Zhou, who had the clincher in a 4-3 win over No. 4 Emory yesterday, came through with a 7-6, 6-3 win to level the score at 1-1, responding after Ally Lin came back from 5-0 down to get it into the tiebreaker in the first, and then winning three straight games in the second with the score tied 3-3.

Leah Baroudi had a big win at No. 5 singles to tie the score 2-2, winning 6-4, 6-4 by holding on after taking a 4-0 lead in the second. Rebecca Kong had her second straight-set win of the weekend, earning a 6-4, 6-1 win to give CMS a 3-2 lead. 

Ananya Sriniketh, who had a dramatic three-set win against Emory to tie the score 3-3, produced similar magic for the clinch on Saturday, bouncing back for a 6-7, 7-5, 6-3 win over Caitlin Bui. Sriniketh was down 5-4 in the second, but was able to win three games in a row to earn the split. She then went ahead 2-0 early in the third before Bui got back level at 3-3, but answered with three straight wins to secure the team win. 

CMS will meet a familiar foe in Chicago, who the Athenas have defeated twice in the national championship match, and in the 2024 ITA Indoor Finals, before the Maroons won the Indoor title over the Athenas a year ago.