CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -
Lindsay Eisenman and
Rebecca Kong won the last 16 points in a row, taking the last four games at love, to earn a hard-fought 6-3, 7-5 win over Katalina Wang and Hannah Kassaie of Case Western in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division III Doubles Championship on Saturday.
Eisenman and Kong trailed 4-1 in the second set, before winning the next two games to get back to 4-3. After Case Western held to go up 5-3, the Athenas had a love service game to get back to within 5-4.
Following the changeover, Kong and Eisenman kept the momentum going and won eight straight points to go ahead 6-5. With Case Western still having a chance to hold serve and get it to a tiebreaker, the Athenas close out with four more straight points to earn their way through to the semifinals.
The first set had a very different feel, as four straight games went to deuce, with Kong and Eisenman winning the first three to go ahead 5-2. After Case Western fought three set points to break at deuce and pull within 5-3, CMS broke back to win the set.
The semifinal round tomorrow will see Eisenman and Kong match up against Eleanor Archer and Caitlin Bui of WashU with the winner advancing through to Monday's championship. Eisenman has a chance to pull off an NCAA sweep in her career, after winning a team national championship as a first-year in 2023, and then winning the singles national championship last year.
Eisenman and Kong also won the ITA Cup national title in the fall, giving the duo a chance to sweep both national championships this academic year.