The Emory University women's tennis team is headed back to the semifinals after defeating Bowdoin College, 4-1, in the NCAA Quarterfinals Tuesday afternoon at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center in Claremont, California.
It will be the 23rd time in program history that the Eagles will be among the final four teams remaining and the second semifinals berth during the Bridget Disher coaching era. Emory is slated to be matched up against Pomona-Pitzer in the semifinals match with first serve scheduled for 3:00 PM ET / 12:00 PM PT on Wednesday. It will be the third time this season the Eagles and Sagehens have met on the courts with Emory outlasting PPC in both meetings, winning 4-0 in the third place match of ITA National Indoor Championships and 4-3 one week later on PPC's home courts.
Tuesday's match started with the doubles point coming down to the wire. The teams traded 6-1 decisions on courts one and three with junior Emily Kantrovitz and graduate student Dakota Fordham earning the win for the Eagles at the No. 1 position. The swing match was decided on court two where juniors Izzy Antanavicius and Iris Berman broke a 4-4 tie by closing out the match with the final two games for the 6-4 result.
In singles, Berman and sophomore Yanire Marte brought Emory to the brink of the win as both players were straight set winners to push the Eagles in front by a 3-0 margin. Berman was the first singles match to reach the end as she was a 6-2, 6-1 at the No. 3 position before Marte followed with a 6-4, 6-2 line on court three.
Bowdoin avoided the shutout as Zoe Sun took the No. 6 singles point from Fordham with a 6-4, 6-4 line.
Leading 3-1 and needing just one more win to advance to the next round, the Polar Bears put up a fight as all three remaining singles matches went to a third set.
The clinching point came at the No. 1 spot where Kantrovitz bounced back from a 5-7 setback in the opening set to win 12 of the final 16 games to produce a winning line of 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 to send Emory onto the Final Four.
When play concluded, Antanavicius led 6-3, 4-6, 4-2 on court two while senior Eliza McPherron battled back from 3-6, 0-4 deficit to force a final set on court five before she was halted at 3-6, 7-6, 1-1.
The Eagles will be looking for their first appearance in the national championship match since 2021 when semifinal action gets underway on Wednesday.
