Box Score ST. LOUIS – Washington and Lee sophomore
Lauren Long and senior
Gabi Moss opened play in the NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Singles Championship on Saturday, with Long earning a first round win to secure All-America laurels highlighting the day.
LONG def. YOUNGBERG (7-5, 6-3) – FIRST ROUND:
In her first match of the day, Long overcame an early deficit against Wesleyan's (Conn.) Sarah Youngberg for a straight-set win. Youngberg surged ahead in the match by a 4-1, first-set score, but Long rebounded to win the next two games to pull within one.
After both players held serve to put Youngberg one game away from clinching the first set, Long locked in for a break to tie the score before holding serve yet again to go up 6-5. With Youngberg serving to force a tiebreak, Long held strong and broke her serve again to take the first set, 7-5.
Despite her serve being broken to start the second set, Long carried her first-set momentum into the second, following it up with a service break of her own and a service hold to go up, 2-1. Both players then exchanged a break of the other's serve before Long won the next two games to make it a 5-2 set score. Youngberg then held serve and won the first point in the ninth game, but Long closed out her first-round win on a high note by winning four straight points to claim the match.
PEREZ def. LONG (6-2, 6-3) – SECOND ROUND:
In her afternoon session, Long's NCAA Tournament run came to an end at the hands of Emory's Ana Cristina Perez. Long's serve was broken to open the match, but both players then held serve over the next four games to keep Perez up, 3-2. After Perez broke Long's serve for a second time, she held serve to push ahead 5-2 before another break in the eighth game to take a one-set lead.
The first three games of the second set mirrored the first set, as Perez moved up a break followed by two straight holds of serve. Long then looked to seize momentum in the set when she broke Perez's serve to tie the score, 2-2, but Perez got another break to keep a 3-2 lead. Both players exchanged one more break each, before Perez took the final two games to advance to the quarterfinal round.
SHEPHERD-JOHNSON def. MOSS (6-4, 6-2) – FIRST ROUND:
Moss faced off against Katya Shepherd-Johnson of MIT in the first round and fell in straight sets. Shepherd-Johnson jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first set, but Moss then held serve to get on the board, followed by a break and another hold to pull within one game. Moss then tied the set, 4-4, but Shepherd-Johnson rebounded to win the next two to move ahead by a set.
In the second set, Moss had her serve broken to open things up, but she went on to break Shepherd-Johnson's first serve of the set before holding her own to take a 2-1 lead. Both players then broke each other's serve in the next two games to keep Moss up a game, but Shepherd-Johnson ended the match by winning the final four games to advance to the Round of 16.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
Long's appearance in the Round of 16 on Saturday was the second of her career. She is the first W&L women's tennis player to appear in at least the Round of 16 in back-to-back seasons since Brooke Donnelly '17 from 2015-17.
END-OF-SEASON NOTES:
Moss ends her season with an overall singles record of 16-3, and she closes her career with a 57-17 singles record. Altogether, Moss amassed a 109-37 combined record across singles and doubles matches.
Long concludes her sophomore season at 18-5 in all singles matches, and she will enter her junior season with a career 35-9 record in two years' worth of singles play. Her 18 wins this season marked a one-win improvement upon her rookie season.
Nestled in the mountains of Virginia, Washington and Lee University is a proud member of NCAA Division III and the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Founded in 1749, W&L is the ninth-oldest college in the United States and a top-ranked liberal arts university. With over 500 student-athletes in 24 varsity sports, the Generals have celebrated over 265 conference championships. Learn more about the Blue and White by visiting www.generalssports.com or on social media at @WLUGenerals.
