NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. – In a bout that was decided in the third set of the final match, the University of Chicago women's tennis team emerged with a 5-4 triumph over Pomona-Pitzer at the ITA Division III National Team Indoor Championship on Saturday.
The No. 3-seed Maroons (7-1 record) stretched their winning streak to seven. The No. 2-seed Sagehens dropped to 4-1.
UChicago seized two wins in doubles to take a 2-1 advantage. At No. 1, first-years Sylwia Mikos and Shianna Guo claimed their eight-consecutive win, 8-4. Senior Annika Pandey and first-year Nicole Geller grabbed another point at the third spot, 8-7 in a tiebreak.
Singles play brought more the back-and-forth action. Pomona-Pitzer claimed wins at No. 2, No. 3 and No. 6. But first-years Nicole Geller and Miranda Yuan put UChicago on the brink of victory with wins at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively. Geller prevailed 6-1, 6-4 and Yuan was dominant with a 6-0, 6-3 result. It all came down to Mikos at the No. 1 spot in a battle that went the distance. But once the third set commenced, Mikos submitted an unblemished performance to clinch (7-6, 4-6, 6-0).
UChicago advances to Sunday's ITA indoor championship, where they will take on conference rival and No. 1-seed Emory University. The two teams previously met in the ITA indoor final in both 2010 and 2011.
"Another tough opponent, another gritty effort, and another great team victory with different people stepping up big in big moments," Head Coach Jay Tee said. "The match really turned in our favor when we took No. 3 doubles after being down 3-1 in the tiebreak. Annika and Nicole kept fighting and then came up with some clutch shots at the end to give us a 2-1 lead. Nicole and Miranda continued their excellent play and got us within a point of the win, setting up Sylwia to bring it home with as good as a third set as you will ever see. The entire team just kept fighting, hanging around, and feeding off each other, leading to the win."
UChicago 5, Pomona-Pitzer 4
Singles
1. Sylwia Mikos (UC) def. Maria Lyven (PP) 7-6, 4-6, 6-0
2. Nina Ye (PP) def. Shianna Guo (UC) 6-1, 6-0
3. Angie Zhou (PP) def. Claudia Ng (UC) 7-6, 7-5
4. Nicole Geller (UC) def. Marissa Markey (PP) 6-1, 6-4
5. Miranda Yuan (UC) def. Janie Marcus (PP) 6-0, 6-3
6. Georgia Ryan (PP) def. Annika Pandey (UC) 6-4, 7-5
Doubles
1. Sylwia Mikos/Shianna Guo (UC) def. Maria Lyven/Nina Ye (PP) 8-4
2. Angie Zhou/Marissa Markey (PP) def. Claudia Ng/Eugenia Lee (UC) 8-4
3. Annika Pandey/Nicole Geller (UC) def. Georgia Ryan/Janie Marcus (PP) 8-7
NEXT MATCH:
- Sunday, March 6 @ 11:00 AM (ET) – UChicago vs. Emory University (at Nicholasville, Ky.)
