NICHOLASVILLE, KY – On the opening day of play from the 2023 ITA Division III Women’s National Team Indoor Championship, the top seeds shined as all of the top four seeds earned their spots into tomorrow’s semifinal matches.
Beginning with the morning matches, it was Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (1) who faced off with Case Western Reserve (8) and MIT (4) who took on Emory (5) from the Top Seed Tennis Club in Nicholasville, Kentucky.
For the top seeded Athenas, they were able to make quick work of the Spartans, winning from two of the three doubles positions to head into singles with the 2-1 advantage.
In singles, CMS earned their remaining four points in straight sets from courts three, four, five, and six to clinch the 6-3 match victory over Case Western and their spot into the semifinals.
Happening simultaneously, MIT (4) and Emory (5) were squaring off for what would be one of the closest matches of the day, coming down to a third set tiebreak on court four to decide the match.
Starting with doubles, the Engineers took a slight advantage over Emory after winning on courts one and two, including a crucial 8-7 (8) victory on court one to turn the tide of the match in MIT’s favor.
Moving to singles, both teams took turns trading blows as Emory would win from courts two, five, and six while MIT took victories from courts one and three to set up a winner take all scenario on court four.
It was ultimately Jay Lu who sealed the victory for MIT as she would win 6-3 in the third set to cap off a 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 victory over Eliza McPherron of Emory.
With the victory MIT (4) is now set to face off against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (1) in tomorrow’s semifinals which are set to take place at 2 pm (ET) from the Top Seed Tennis Club.
As these four morning matches came to a close, the next set of opening round matchups were ready to take center stage as Chicago (2) faced Carnegie Mellon (7) and Pomona-Pitzer (3) clashed with hosts Sewanee (6).
First for Chicago, the Maroons looked like the most dominant team on the opening day of play, establishing their momentum in doubles before building on that momentum in singles.
Winning from courts two and three in doubles, Chicago looked like a well oiled machine in singles play clinching the match with victories on courts one through five to earn the 7-1 victory over Carnegie Mellon. The match on court six went unfinished.
In the other afternoon match, it was another 5-4 battle as neither Pomona-Pitzer or Sewanee wanted to end their chances at a National Team Indoor Championship.
Sewanee was the first team to strike in the match as they would win from all three doubles positions to take the 3-0 lead heading in singles play.
Singles would be where Pomona-Pitzer would bounce back though, as the Sagehens would win in straight sets on five of the six courts to take the victory and their spot into the Semifinals where they will play Chicago.
The Semifinals will commence tomorrow from the Top Seed Tennis Club with play begining at 9:00 am (ET). Be sure to keep up with all of the action through the ITA Social Media streams across Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
First Round
- 9:00 am EST – CMS (1) def. Case Western Reserve (8), 6-3
- 9:00 am EST – MIT (4) def. Emory (5), 5-4
- 2:00 pm EST – Chicago (2) def. Carnegie Mellon (7), 7-1
- 2:00 pm EST – Pomona-Pitzer (3) def. Sewanee (6), 5-4
