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Caroline Cox and Catherine Allen are the No. 1 ranked doubles team in the nation and are undefeated in DIII (photo by Alicia Tsai)
Caroline Cox and Catherine Allen are the No. 1 ranked doubles team in the nation and are undefeated in DIII (photo by Alicia Tsai)
Posted: May 06, 2019

Second-Ranked Athena Tennis Opens NCAA Championships with Host Regional This Weekend

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The No. 2-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's tennis team will begin defense of its 2018 national championship when it hosts a five-team regional this Friday-Sunday at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center.

CMS will open play on Saturday and will await the winner of the Friday opening round contest between Linfield and UT Dallas. Pomona-Pitzer and Trinity will meet in the other Saturday semifinal, with the two winners meeting in the regional finals on Sunday for the right to advance to the NCAA Division III Championships in Kalamazoo, Michigan. 

The Athenas come into the NCAA Championships with a 23-1 overall record, including 16 straight wins since it fell in its only match this season, 5-3 in the ITA Indoor Finals to current No. 1 Emory back on March 3. CMS has dominated its opponents since, not having a match closer than 7-2 in the last 16 (at Pomona-Pitzer on April 20) and losing only six points total over those 16 matches. 

CMS has also put together a strong schedule on its way to a 23-1 record, including a 12-1 mark against Division III ranked teams, 7-1 against teams ranked in the top 10. The Athenas also beat UC San Diego, ranked No. 18 in Division II, in its non-conference schedule. 

Junior Catherine Allen and sophomore Caroline Cox come into the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 ranked doubles team in all of Division III, with a 25-1 record, with the only loss coming to Division II UC San Diego. Allen and Cox won the ITA Cup in the fall to earn their top ranking, and haven't been defeated by a Division III doubles team since. 

In singles, sophomore Rebecca Berger is 13-0 in dual matches, including the clinching win in a third-set tiebreaker against UC San Diego. Berger also had the clincher in last year's national championship match win over Emory. Allen is 13-1 in duals, with the only loss coming to Pomona-Pitzer's Caroline Casper in the regular season finale, but she bounced back to defeat Casper 6-2, 6-2 in the SCIAC Championship match. Freshman Sydney Lee (17-2), freshman Sarah Bahsoun (14-2) and Cox (13-2) also have strong dual singles record as well. 

To view the complete NCAA Division III Championship bracket, go to the following link: 

NCAA.com