The No. 2 ranked Emory University women's tennis team opened its weekend in sunny, Altamonte Springs, Florida Thursday morning by defeating Brandeis University, 4-1, in the first round of the University Athletic Association championships.

With the win, the Eagles advance to the semifinals where they'll face third-seeded Carnegie Mellon University at 12:30 PM on Friday. On the other side of the bracket, top-seeded Chicago handled Rochester, 4-0, while WashU blanked CWRU, 5-0.

The seventh-seeded Judges started the morning with an upset mentality as they jumped out to an early advantage by claiming the doubles point. Sophomore Yanire Marte and senior Eliza McPherron earned a win on court three by being the first match to finish, winning by a 6-3 margin. However, the Judges responded with a pair of 6-4 victories on courts one and two to secure the point.

Now needing four wins on the six singles courts, the Eagles never faltered as Emory made quick work of the Judges and produced straight set victories in short order to finalize the 4-1 winning margin.

Junior Iris Berman was the first match to reach its conclusion as she brought the score even at 1-1 with her 6-1, 6-1 domination on court three. Shortly after, both Marte and graduate student Dakota Fordham concluded their matches moments apart with Fordham rolling to a 6-0, 6-2 win on court three and Marte notching a 6-2, 6-4 result on court four.

Junior Emily Kantrovitz, who debuted as the No. 1 ranked singles played in Division III on Wednesday, came through on her top billing as she recorded the match-clinching win on court one with a winning margin of 6-2, 6-3.

When the match concluded, McPherron carried a 6-2, 4-4 lead on court five while junior Izzy Antanavicius was in a 4-6, 5-3 battle on court two.

The Eagles will look to continue their streak of reaching the UAA championship match when play gets underway at Sanlando Park Friday afternoon.