Women’s tennis takes second at UAA championships; men fall at home
The Carnegie Mellon women’s tennis team traveled to Cleveland last weekend to compete in the University Athletic Association (UAA) championship, which was hosted by Case Western Reserve University.
The Tartans, seeded second, opened the tournament with a 9–0 win over the seventh-seeded University of Rochester on Friday afternoon.
In the number-one singles, junior Amy Staloch overpowered Yellowjacket opponent Alexa Perry by a score of 6–2, 6–2. Senior Mona Iyer went on to defeat Melinda Beckmann 6–0, 6–2, and first-year Andrea Meythaler defeated Rochester player Brittany Bowman by a score of 6–1, 6–0. Fellow first-year Alisa Liebowitz beat Vicky Wells 6–1, 6–1, while junior Samantha Schultz defeated her opponent 6–1, 6–0. Senior Mai Otsuka secured the Tartans’ sweep, defeating Michelle Desrosiers by a score of 6–0, 6–0.
Carnegie Mellon’s double teams of Staloch and Iyer (8–6), Meythaler and Schultz (8–1), and first-year Peggy Stankevich and Liebowitz (8–1) all defeated their Rochester opponents.
The Tartans went on to defeat the University of Chicago on Saturday afternoon by a score of 6–3 to acquire a spot in the championship match.
Staloch won the number-one singles match by a score of 6–4, 6–3. Meythaler played a hard-fought match against Ade Omodele-Lucien, before defeating her 0–6, 6–3 (10–5).
Liebowitz (6–3, 6–3), Schultz (6–4, 6–2), and Otsuka (7–5, 6–0) all secured victories in singles competition. In doubles, Stankevich and Liebowitz overtook their opponents 8–6.
Sunday morning, the Tartans faced the number-one seeded Emory University in a re-match of last season’s championship match in which Emory defeated Carnegie Mellon by a score of 7–2. This year, the Emory Eagles again came up with the win, beating Carnegie Mellon 6–3.
Staloch again won the number-one singles (7–5, 6–2), while Schultz defeated Emory player Allison Fick (6–2, 6–1) to win the number-five singles. The doubles team of Staloch and Iyer defeated their opponents 8–2.
Emory took the UAA title, followed by the Tartans, and Chicago which defeated New York University in the third-place match.
The men’s tennis team came up short against the 17th-ranked Washington and Lee University 3–6. The Wednesday afternoon match was scheduled to be played at Carnegie Mellon, but was moved to the Greensburg Racquet Club’s indoor facilities in Greensburg, Pa. The loss moves the Tartans to 17–5 for the season, while the Yellow Jackets improve to 18–2.
In the singles competition, first-year James Muliawan defeated Washington and Lee player Tim Ross in the number-one singles by a score of 7–6 (7–4), 7–6 (7–5).
Fellow first-year Jon Spero won his singles match against Seth Feibelman 3–6, 6–2, 6–0, while junior Andrew Clearfield defeated opponent Jamie McCardell 7–6 (7–5), 6–0 to win the number-five singles. Carnegie Mellon was unable to secure a win in the doubles competition.
“It was a tough loss to Washington and Lee and that will make it tough for us to make the NCAA tournament, which is a shame, but hopefully we can rebound and do well at UAAs,” Clearfield said. “I think it is reasonable to get second place [at UAAs].”
“We went into the match as the favorites so we were disappointed with the result,” Spero said. “We felt that we played well in singles but the fact that we lost all three doubles matches really put us at a disadvantage. We hope to rebound next weekend at the UAA tournament.”
The Tartans will head to Case Western Reserve University this weekend to compete in the men’s UAA championships. The matches will begin on Friday and run through Sunday afternoon.