GREENCASTLE, Ind. (Feb. 27, 2016) – A new champion will be crowned at the 2016 ITA Division III National Women's Team Indoor Championship, as three-time defending champ and No. 5 seed Johns Hopkins fell to No. 1 seed Carnegie Mellon 5-4 in Saturday's semifinal round at the DePauw Tennis and Track Center on the campus of DePauw University.
The Tartans (8-1) will face No. 7 Pomona-Pitzer (2-1), who toppled No. 12 Sewanee 7-2 in Saturday's other semifinal. It's the first #ITAIndoors final appearance for the Sagehens, while Carnegie Mellon is making its fifth-straight finals appearance, and are looking for its first #ITAIndoors title since 2009.
Pomona-Pitzer edged Sewanee on two of the three doubles courts to jump out to an early 2-1 advantage. The Sagehens scored victories at No. 2 doubles (Lea Lynn Yen/Caroline Casper d. Mary Jane McCaghren/Haley Tucker 8-3) and No. 3 doubles (Joy Kim/Arianna Chen d. Annie Veron/Maggie Crumbliss), while the Tigers' No. 1 team of Lindsey Liles and Clementina Davila topped Maryann Zhaoand Emily Chen 8-4.
Pomona-Pitzer notched the first point in singles play, as Zhao bested Christina Merchant 6-3, 6-1 at No. 3 singles to increase the Sagehens' advantage to 3-1. Casper's 6-4, 7-5 victory at No. 2 singles over Davila moved Pomona-Pitzer within a point of clinching the match. Liles earned Sewanee's second point of the match with a 7-6, 6-1 decision over Kim at No. 1 singles. Shivani Doraiswami secured the match for Pomona-Pitzer with a dominant 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 4 singles over Taylor Childress.
Chen scored a 6-2, 6-1 win over Sara Thompson at No. 6 singles, increasing the Pomona-Pitzer advantage to 6-2. Mae Coyiuto closed out the match with a 6-7, 7-5, 1-0 (5) win for the Sagehens over Crumbliss at No. 5 singles.
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