LEXINGTON, Va. – The ninth-ranked Washington and Lee women's tennis team is poised to take on No. 4 Wesleyan (Conn.) on Monday in the NCAA Division III Championship quarterfinal round in Chattanooga, Tenn.
HOW THEY GOT HERE:
After capturing their 23rd consecutive ODAC Championship on May 3, the Generals (22-2) picked up a 4-1 win against No. 10 Trinity (Texas) in the NCAA second round, before upsetting No. 7 Emory, 4-3, on its home courts in Atlanta. W&L will be making its first appearance in the national quarterfinals in five years and 17th in program history.
The Cardinals bring a 20-2 record into the quarterfinal round, with both losses being 4-3 finals against then second-ranked UChicago (Feb. 27) and then second-ranked WashU (Mar. 13). Wesleyan capped regular season play by topping then No. 2 Bowdoin in the NESCAC title match, 4-0, before moving past Moravian (4-0) and No. 16 Amherst (4-2) last weekend. The Cardinals will be playing in the national quarterfinals for the eighth time in program history.
HEAR FROM COACH NESS:
"From the beginning of the season, we knew we were talented enough to make it to Chattanooga. All season, we have believed in each other and in the process, and all that hard work paid off last weekend with our wins over Trinity and Emory. However, the coaches and players have our sights set even higher, and that showed this week with high-energy and highly-focused practices."
"I couldn't be more proud of this team, and we are excited for the opportunity ahead of us this week to compete for a national championship."
THE FINAL EIGHT TEAMS:
The Generals' and Cardinals' side of the bracket also features No. 1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (22-0) and No. 7 Bowdoin (15-7), while No. 2 UChicago (14-2), No. 5 Babson (18-4), No. 3 WashU (19-3) and No. 8 Carnegie Mellon (18-7) make up the other four teams on the opposite side of the bracket.
W&L's side of the bracket will play its quarterfinal matches on Monday at 11:00 a.m. EST, before the other two quarterfinal matches will take place at 2:00 p.m. Both semifinal matches will be played the following day at 5:00 p.m. EST, with the two remaining teams meeting on Thursday at 1:00 p.m. EST to contend for the national championship. All seven matches this week will be played at the Champions Tennis Club in Chattanooga, Tenn.
LOOKING AT W&L AND WESLEYAN:
The Generals are led into the final week of competition by four-time ODAC Player of the Year
Lauren Long, who also repeated as the ODAC Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2026. Long holds a 14-3 record from No. 1 singles this season and has won five straight matches heading into the team quarterfinal match.
First-year
Margarette Berdy leads the Generals in singles wins this season with a record of 18-4, playing primarily out of the No. 5 slot, followed by senior
Grace Lorenz with a 14-5 record. First-year
Sarah Ladd (12-7) and sophomores
Allie Murrell (12-5) and
Sarah Donnelly (11-6) round out a strong singles lineup for the Blue and White.
The Generals figure to trot out the same doubles lineup as last week with Long/Lorenz at No. 1, Berdy/
Greer Webb at No. 2 and Murrell/
Haley Stoltz at No. 3. This combination in doubles has been on the lineup card for each of the Generals' last seven matches. Long and Lorenz are 6-3 at No. 1 this season, Berdy and Webb have gone 4-3 at No. 2, and Murrell and Stoltz hold a 6-1 mark at No. 3.
The Cardinals feature the NESCAC Rookie of the Year in Agnes Guggenheim, who is 17-7 in singles this season, including a mark of 10-4 at No. 2. Mariia Kornilova leads all Wesleyan singles players with a 23-1 record (10-0 at No. 4), with Lara Afolayanka tied with Guggenheim in singles wins.
Natalia Leroy and Sarah Youngberg have kept pace in singles play with respective records of 15-3 and 13-4, while the Cardinals' No. 1, Leila Epstein, holds an 11-10 record.
In doubles, the Cardinals' most-common No. 1 tandem this season has been Epstein and Lucinda Gatsiounis, who are 8-6 at top flight. Guggenheim and Afolayanka have paired 10 times at No. 2 and won eight matches, with Afolayanka playing an additional seven matches at No. 2 with Youngberg (6-1). At No. 3, Kornilova and Kendall Smith have a 14-1 record together, which leads all Wesleyan doubles teams.
PLAYERS TO WATCH FOR IN CHATTANOOGA:
Across the eight teams remaining in the Division III Women's Tennis Team Championship bracket, 13 players were announced as qualifiers for the Division III Singles Championship, with an additional three being named alternates. Four doubles teams that were selected for the Doubles Championship will also be in the team championship, along with an additional alternate doubles duo. Those qualifiers and alternates are listed below:
SINGLES QUALIFIERS & ALTERNATES:
Matia Cristiani, Babson
Alessandra Sikharulidze, Babson
Ika Kanumuri, Carnegie Mellon
Jane Wong, Carnegie Mellon
Lindsay Eisenman, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Rebecca Kong, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Ananya Sriniketh, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Sarena Biria, UChicago
Clara Zou, UChicago
Lauren Long, Washington & Lee
Eleanor Archer, WashU
Eliana Hanna, WashU
Agnes Guggenhein, Wesleyan (CT)
Third alternate: Cara Hung, Bowdoin
Fifth alternate: Leila Epstein, Wesleyan (CT)
Seventh alternate: Lara Afolayanka, Wesleyan (CT)
DOUBLES QUALIFIERS & ALTERNATES:
M. Cristiani / A. Sikharulidze - Babson
L. Eisenman / R. Kong, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
E. Archer / C. Bui, WashU
E. Hanna / A. Lin, WashU
First Alternate: I. Kanumuri / K. Modak, Carnegie Mellon
FOLLOW THE ACTION:
All team matches will be live streamed through Track Tennis, with live scoring taking place on each court through the iOnSport app. Links will become available
here and on
generalssports.com closer to the start of quarterfinal play.
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.
