The seventh-rated Gustavus Adolphus women’s tennis team fell to fifth-rated Emory University 5-1 Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III Women’s Tennis Team Championships being held at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Defending NCAA Division III doubles champions Tara Houlihan (Sr., Sioux Falls, S.D.) and Lyndsey Palen (Sr., Rochester, Minn.) picked up the lone Gustavus point with an 8-1 win at No. 1 doubles.
Gustavus took an early 1-0 lead with Houlihan and Palen’s 8-1 victory at No. 1 doubles over Linda Tien and Richelle Marasigan. The Eagles evened the match as Jamie Chan and Indu Anand were victorious 8-5 at No. 2 doubles over Gustavus’ Lauren Hom (Jr., Stevens Point, Wis.) and Marla Menne (Sr., White Bear Lake, Minn.). Emory gained the 2-1 edge heading to singles play as Samantha Shapiro and Cristina Arellano edged Darcy Haubrick (Jr., Elk River, Minn.) and Jenni White (So., Cedar Rapids, Iowa) 9-8 at No. 3 doubles.
Emory secured the victory with wins at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 singles. Marasigan defeated Houlihan 6-2, 6-1 at the No. 1 spot, Tien moved past Palen 6-1, 6-1 at the No. 2 spot and Anand downed Jaime Gaard (Jr., Edina, Minn.) 6-2, 6-3 at the No. 4 spot. Chan led Hom 6-1, 5-2 at No. 3 singles, Shapiro led Menne 7-6, 1-0 at No. 5 singles and Arellano led White 6-2, 5-1 at No. 6 singles when the match was stopped as a result of Emory earning the necessary five team points to advance.
Gustavus, which closes its season at 28-5, was making its 17th trip to the quarterfinal round in 18 years. Emory is the three-time defending national champion and will face either eighth-rated Amherst College (Mass.) or second-rated Trinity University (Texas) in Thursday’s national semifinal.
Houlihan will participate in the 32-person singles draw, while Houlihan and Palen will participate in the 16-team doubles draw at the NCAA Division III Women’s Tennis Championships when individual play begins Sat., May 20.