The stage is set for the final day of the 2008 NCAA Division III Women’s Tennis Championships at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota. Top-seed singles player Siobhan Finicane will face fifth-seed Cary Gibson at noon (CDT), while the doubles semifinal round will be played at the same time. The doubles final is slated to begin at 2 p.m. (CDT).
The last two doubles matches of the day went to three sets each as both seeded teams fell to unranked opponents. Kristin Cobb and Marta Drane of Denison upset the fourth-seeded team of Alicia Hunt and Laura Steinmetz of Trinity (Texas) 7-6 (3), 1-6, 6-3, while Jennifer Chui and Amy Staloch of Carnegie Mellon upended the second-seeded duo of Lauren Caire and Katie Tabb of Washington and Lee 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.
Hunt and Steinmetz appeared to have the first set under control with a 5-3 lead, but Cobb and Drane clawed back to tie the set at 5-5. The Denison team went on to win the first set tiebreak 7-3. Hunt and Steinmetz did not give up as they cruised to a 6-1 victory in the second set to even the match. Before the third set got underway, officials moved the match indoors due to high winds.
The move indoors slowed down the momentum of Hunt and Steinmetz, as the momentum shifted back to Cobb and Drane, who took a 3-1 lead in the final set. Both pairings alternated service games until Cobb and Drane pulled out the win 6-3 in the last set.
A similar match took place in the other quarterfinal match between Chui and Staloch and Caire and Tabb as Caire and Tabb held a 5-3 advantage. Momentum swung quickly in favor of Chui and Staloch after the team from Carnegie Mellon fought off two set points to bring the match within 5-4. Chui and Staloch seized the opportunity and won the next three service games to win the set 7-5.
After playing to a 3-3 tie, play was moved indoors where Caire and Tabb had played earlier in the week during team competition. The team took advantage of the venue change to win the five straight games to take the second set 6-3 and a 2-0 lead in the third. Chui and Staloch got back on track when the pair broke serve in the next service game and went on to take a 4-2 lead en route to a 6-4 victory.
Defending doubles champions Brittany Berckes and Alicia Menezes will face Sabra Rogers and Tshema Nash in one semifinal, while Kristin Cobb and Marta Drane will square off against Jennifer Chui and Amy Staloch in the other semifinal match at noon (CDT).
The final singles and doubles matches will be webstreamed and are available to watch by clicking here. Gustavus assistant women’s tennis coach Jon Carlson will provide the play-by-play, while Gustavus Sports Information Director Tim Kennedy will provide the color commentary.