Second-Ranked CMS Women's Tennis Shuts Out No. 7 Carnegie Mellon in ITA Indoor Semifinals

Nicholasville, Ky. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's tennis team looked the part of national championship contenders, shutting out No. 7 Carnegie Mellon in a top 10 battle at the ITA Indoor National Semifinals on Saturday afternoon at the Top Seed Tennis Club.

The Athenas now stand at 9-0 on the season and will move on to play one of the other top contenders for the 2020 national title, No. 3 Emory, which defeated Pomona-Pitzer 8-1 in the other semifinal. CMS and Emory met in the 2018 national title match, which CMS won 5-4. 

First-year Justine Leong had the clincher at No. 1 singles for CMS, after she also helped the Athenas to a 3-0 lead after doubles with an 8-3 win at No. 2, along with sophomore Crystal Juan. Senior Catherine Allen and junior Caroline Cox earned an 8-2 win at No. 1 doubles, while senior Nicole Tan and sophomore Sarah Bahsoun picked up an 8-5 win at No. 3. 

In singles, sophomore Devon Wolfe was the first to finish for CMS, picking up a 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 5 to make it a 4-0 lead. Leong quicky followed with the clinch, winning 6-2, 6-0 at No. 1 singles over Danna Taylor, who is ranked No. 7 nationally. 

The Athenas didn't drop a set on their way to the 9-0 win, as Allen (6-1, 6-1 at No. 2) and Cox (6-1, 6-1 at No. 6) had identical scores to complete their singles-doubles sweeps. Junior Rebecca Berger picked up a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 3 singles, and sophomore Sydney Lee had a 6-4, 7-5 win at No. 4 to close out the match. 

The Emory match tomorrow will also likely feature an intriguing matchup at No. 1 singles, between Leong, who comes in ranked No. 1 in the nation after winning the ITA Cup in the fall, and Ysabel Gonzalez-Rico of Emory, who won the Division III national singles championship last spring but studied abroad in the fall and didn't compete in the ITA Cup.