Athenas Dominate Final ITA Rankings, Leong-Allen Rank 1-2 in Singles, Allen-Cox No. 1 in Doubles

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Intercollegiate Tennis Association put out its final Division III rankings for the 2019-20 season on Friday afternoon, and the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's tennis team dominated the top of the charts, with first-year Justine Leong and senior Catherine Allen ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in singles, and Allen and junior Caroline Cox holding down the No. 1 spot in doubles.

Leong and sophomore Crystal Juan also finished the year ranked No. 12 in doubles, while junior Rebecca Berger gave the Athenas three players in the top 25 in singles, finishing the year in the No. 25 spot. 

Leong had a huge impact in her debut season,compiling a 41-3 record (20-1 in singles and 21-2 in doubles). She was the ITA National Player of the Month after an October which saw her sweep the ITA Cup national championships in both singles and doubles (with Allen). Her only singles defeat came in the second round of the ITA Fall Nationals against Jada Hart of UCLA, after defeating Janice Shin of Stanford in the first round (Shin had the clinching win for Stanford in the national championship against Georgia last year).

Allen and Cox ended this spring as the No. 1 ranked doubles team in the nation for the second year in a row. Last season, the duo swept both the ITA Fall Nationals (with a three-set win over Carnegie Mellon) and the NCAA Division III Doubles Championship (with a three-set win over teammates Nicole Tan and Sarah Bahsoun). Cox studied abroad in the fall, and Allen was able to continue the CMS doubles dominance by winning the ITA Cup with Leong in Rome, Georgia back in October. 

Allen added the No. 2 ranking in singles this year behind Leong, who actually gave Allen her only defeat in the ITA West Regionals in the fall as she finished the year 16-1. Allen had a perfect 9-0 record in duals in singles, including the tiebreaking three-set win against Emory in the ITA Indoor Championships, prevailing 7-5, 5-7, 7-5 to break a 4-4 tie and give CMS the 5-4 win that bumped it up to the No. 1 team ranking in the nation. 

Leong and Juan earned the No. 12 spot in the final doubles rankings. Juan and first-year Anna Kern earned All-America honors in doubles in the fall by advancing to the ITA Cup semifinals, before Juan teamed with Leong after Cox returned from studying abroad. The duo went 4-0 in dual matches, including wins at No. 2 against No. 7 Carnegie Mellon and No. 3 Emory at the ITA Indoor Championships. 

Berger also capped off the year in the national rankings in singles, coming in at No. 25 in the final poll. Berger earned All-America honors in singles last year by reaching the Round of 16 at the NCAA Division III Championships, and was off to an 11-3 start to the 2020 campaign in singles as well. Her win in the 2018 NCAA Championship match against Emory broke a 4-4 tie and gave the Athenas the program's first-ever national title. 

CMS ended the 2020 season with a No. 1 national ranking in the ITA Division III poll, and stood at a perfect 14-0 when spring sports were suspended, including the ITA Indoor Championship and two wins against Hawaii Pacific, ranked No. 8 in Division II.