The No. 7 ranked Emory University women's tennis team saw its 2025-26 season come to an end Sunday afternoon as the Eagles fell to No. 14 Washington & Lee University in the NCAA regional final at the Woodruff PE Center in Atlanta.
The Generals erased a 3-1 deficit to upend the host Eagles to advance to the national quarterfinals later this month in Chattanooga. With the defeat, Emory's campaign finishes with a 14-7 record and snaps the Eagles' string of 17 consecutive seasons of making the national quarterfinal round.
Sunday's battle of the toughest teams in the South region started with doubles being decided with a tiebreak. Senior Izzy Antanavicius and junior Yanire Marte set the early tone with a 6-2 decision on court two to lead off the results, but the Generals found an answer on court three as the pairing of Allie Murrell/Haley Stoltz staved off elimination with three straight wins to claim a 7-5 win. With the doubles point shifting focus to the main court, seniors Emily Kantrovitz and Iris Berman found the decisive verdict as they notched a 7-4 tiebreaker win over Lauren Long/Grace Lorenz to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead going into singles.
W&L was the first to strike in singles action as Long registered a straight-set decision over Kantrovitz on the top line to even the score at 1-1.
Following the Generals win, the Eagles moved ahead on the strength of victories from freshman Holyn Karp at the No. 6 position (6-1, 6-2) and Berman on the No. 2 line (6-2, 6-1).
Trailing 3-1, Washington & Lee put together its comeback with wins on the remaining three courts. The Generals leveled the score with straight set decisions on courts four and five, besting Marte (6-3, 6-3) and sophomore Rachel Hernandez (6-2, 7-5).
With the score tied at 3-3, the match came down to three-set battle on court three between W&L's Sarah Donnelly and Antanavicius. Both players traded the opening sets with Donnelly winning the first 6-2 prior to Antanavicius' answer in the second, 6-4. In the final set, Antanavicius started quick with a 3-2 lead but Donnelly closed strong to clinch the match at 6-4.
With the team competition concluded for the Eagles, Emory will see its senior trio turn focus to the NCAA Individual Championships starting May 22 in Chattanooga with Kantrovitz and Antanavicius in the singles draw and Kantrovitz/Berman in the doubles bracket.
