Release courtesy of Washington College Athletics
LANCASTER, Pa. – The No. 5 seeded Washington College Shorewomen edged the No. 4 seeded Franklin and Marshall Diplomats, 5-4, and advanced to the 2022 Centennial Conference Women's Tennis semifinals for the first time since 2018. The Shorewomen (12-6) will take on top-seeded and No. 23-ranked Johns Hopkins on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.
How It Happened
The visitors, ranked #18 in the Atlantic South Region, won all three doubles matches to open the match and then won at No. 1 and No. 2 singles to secure the win. The score was even at 4-4 before senior Alisha White pulled out a three-set win at No. 2 singles to clinch the match.
Doubles
- White and Maria Diaz-Nazario gave the Shorewomen their first point at No. 2 doubles as they downed Mackenzie Sherman and Jenna Harrison, 8-3.
- Junior Bin Nguyen and sophomore Katie Ruppert made it 2-0 on the No. 2 court after taking care of Caroline Ulrich and Kayley Burke, 8-3.
- Junior Irene Meng and sophomore Piper Sartison made it a clean sweep with an 8-3 triumph over Cassidy Landau and Sammi Perry at the No. 1 spot.
Singles
- Meng gave Washington a 4-0 lead after defeating Landau at No. 1 singles, 6-0, 5-7, 6-0.
- F&M (7-8, No. 18 in region) got on the board at the No. 4 slot as Clara March Okuyama upended Sartison, 6-4, 6-1.
- Ruppert dropped a three-set decision on the No. 6 court against Sherman, 6-4, 4-6, 0-6.
- The Diplomats cut the deficit to 4-3 after Diaz-Nazario fell to Harrison at No. 3 singles. She dropped the first set 2-6 and then lost the second set, 6-7, in a tiebreaker (5-7).
- The hosts came all the way back to even the match at 4-4 after Nguyen lost in straight sets (4-6, 4-6) to Bidwell at the No. 5 spot.
- White came up clutch in three sets to give the Shorewomen the clinching victory at No. 2 singles. After dropping the first set in a tiebreaker, she recovered to knock-off Perry, 6-3, 6-1 in the final two sets.
Notes
-F&M defeated the Shorewomen by a 6-3 margin on March 26th in Chestertown.
-Meng is ranked No. 23 in the region in singles.
Up Next
-The Shorewomen will travel to Johns Hopkins (#8 region) for the Centennial Semifinals on Saturday at 3:00 p.m..