Top seeds fall in women's tennis; Panthers eliminated

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – If No. 1 seed Liz Lewis is looking for any consolation following an upset defeat in the second round of this weekend’s NCAA Division III women’s tennis singles championships, she might find some knowing she’s not alone. The Chapman University junior was one of four of the top six seeds that didn’t survive past the second round of the tournament on Friday at the Battleground Tennis Complex.

Not only that, her teammate junior Kelley Fox was ousted in the first round by the tournament’s No. 2 seed Kendra Higgins from the University of Chicago. It was Fox’s first appearance in the national championships, while Lewis was making her third appearance.

Besides top-seeded Lewis, No. 2 Higgins, No. 5 Zahra Dawson (Emory University) and No. 6 Marta Drane (Denison University) all failed to reach the quarterfinals of the singles championship bracket.

Lewis and Fox were also eliminated from the first round of the doubles championship bracket on Friday afternoon, losing in straight sets to Brittany Berckes and Laura Danzig from Amherst College (Mass.), 7-5, 7-6 (7-3). Chapman led in both sets, including a 4-2 advantage in the second set before Amherst rallied and eventually won in the tiebreaker. The Panthers fell to 13-8 in doubles this season.

The loss ended a long day of tennis for the two who began singles play at 9 a.m. and didn’t finish their doubles match until approximately 5:30 p.m. local time.

Lewis did advance to the second round of singles play on the strength of a nail-biting three-set victory over Nadita Krishnan from Johns Hopkins University (Md.) 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5). Lewis snapped a 6-6 tie in the third set with a 7-5 decision, earning her first career victory at the NCAA championships.

The junior three-time All-American didn’t get to savor the victory long however as she moved right into the second round to face Nicole Pontee from Vassar College (N.Y.). Lewis fell behind early in both sets and couldn’t overcome the deficits, falling in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5. It was her first Division III loss this season and just her second loss all year and she ends the season with a 26-2 mark.

Fox had a tough draw from the beginning having to face Higgins. Higgins won in straight sets 6-0, 6-1 eliminating Fox from the tournament and concluding her season with a 13-7 record in singles.

by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director

NCAA Championships Website:
http://www.ncaa.com/sports/w-tennis/champpage/w-tennis-div3-index.html