Allen, Tan, Berger Earn NCAA Singles Invitations, Allen-Cox to Represent Athenas in Doubles
CLAREMONT, Calif. - The No. 2-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's tennis team will have three players in the NCAA Division III Singles Championship, as junior Catherine Allen, junior Nicole Tan and sophomore Rebecca Berger were all chosen to the 32-player field, the NCAA announced today.
In addition, Allen and sophomore Caroline Cox, the No. 1 ranked team in the nation, were chosen to compete in the 16-team NCAA Division III Doubles Championship, with Tan and freshman Sarah Bahsoun the first alternate in the event of a scratch.
The singles and doubles championships will take place from May 24-26 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, after the team championships are decided from May 20-22. The Athenas will try to earn their way to Kalamazoo as a team by winning their host regional this Friday-Sunday at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center, but at the very least, CMS knows that it will have four of its players competing at nationals.
Allen and Cox are 25-1 in doubles this season, with the only defeat coming to Division II UC San Diego. In the fall, the duo captured the ITA Cup in Rome, Georgia, defeating Carnegie Mellon's top team for the title, and they have maintained their No. 1 ranking ever since, remaining perfect against Division III competition.
In singles, Allen heads into NCAA Regional play with a 13-1 dual record, after just avenging her only defeat to Caroline Casper of Pomona-Pitzer by winning 6-2, 6-2 in the rematch in the SCIAC finals on Saturday. Berger, meanwhile, ended up a perfect 13-0 in dual singles matches this year, and is 15-1 overall, with the only loss coming in a scramble against Ghazal Pakbaten of Division II Concordia in the fall. Tan, who studied abroad in the fall, has come back this spring with an 11-3 record, with two of the losses in third-set 10-point tiebreakers (to Caltech and Middlebury).
A year ago, the Athenas won the team national title at Biszantz, and Allen made a run at adding a singles title as well, before falling in three sets in the semifinals. Tan has advanced to the Round of 16 in singles in each of the last two years, and reached the quarterfinals in doubles last season and the finals as a freshman. Berger will be making her first appearance in the NCAA individual competition.
CMS will open play at its host regional on Saturday, when it will meet the winner of Friday's match between UT Dallas and Linfield at 2 p.m. That winner will then advance to Sunday's finals at 12 p.m., against he winner of the other semifinal match between Pomona-Pitzer and Trinity (Texas).