ATLANTA – Sophomore
Sarah Donnelly won the final match of the day on Sunday to send the 14th-ranked Washington and Lee women's tennis team past No. 7 Emory and into the national quarterfinals for the first time in five years.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The doubles point came down to No. 1 on the day, after Emory (14-7) won at No. 2 and W&L (22-2) won at No. 3. With the match headed to a tiebreak, it was the Emory duo of Emily Kantrovitz and Iris Berman who clinched the point, 7-6 (4), over seniors Lauren Long and Grace Lorenz.
- Long redeemed herself in singles and got the Generals on the board with a convincing 6-4, 6-0 win against Kantrovitz. The Eagles, however, claimed the next two team points with wins at No. 2 and 6 from Berman (6-2, 6-1) and Holyn Karp (6-1, 6-2), respectively, which put the Eagles on the brink of victory.
- Sophomore Allie Murrell kept the match going for the Blue and White with a 6-3, 6-3 victory at No. 4, before first-year Margarette Berdy finished a 6-2, 7-5 win at No. 5 to leave the final team point to No. 3 singles.
- Donnelly cruised in her first set at No. 3 against Izzy Antanavicius, 6-2, before Antanavicius evened the match with a 6-4 second-set win. The Eagle then jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the third, but Donnelly held strong and came all the way back to post a 6-4 win in the third and clinch the match for the Generals.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- The Generals will be making their first appearance in the national quarterfinals since 2021 after Sunday's victory. They also snapped a streak of 17 consecutive appearances from Emory in the national quarterfinals.
- Long's and Donnelly's singles wins not only went a long way towards the team winning the match, but they came against two of Division III's best. Kantrovitz is currently ranked eighth in the nation with Antanavicius ninth. They are also the top-two players in the ITA Atlantic South region.
- The Generals picked up their 22nd win of the season against just two losses. It is the most wins in a season for the program since the 2014-15 team finished 24-5.
UP NEXT:
The Generals will meet No. 4 Wesleyan (Conn.) in the national quarterfinals on Monday, May 18, at the Champions Tennis Club in Chattanooga, Tenn. The start time for the match has yet to be announced.
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.
