Freshman Bridget Harding serves the ball. Harding and the Eagles traveled to California during spring break for a week of games. | Courtesy of Emory Athletics
The women’s tennis team wrapped up their impressive winning streak over spring break last Friday, March 13, defeating a strong Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (Calif.) squad with a cumulative score of five to four.
The day started off rough for the Eagles, as they struggled to keep up in doubles matches against the Claremont-Mud-Scripps Athenas. Sophomore Katrina Su and freshman Anna Fuhr lost by a score of 8-5 while sophomore Michelle Satterfield and freshmen Bridget Harding lost 8-4.
Falling down early, Emory had to win a match to match the competition of the Athenas.
Accordingly, junior Beatrice Rosen and sophomore Melissa Goodman performed in the clutch, winning their doubles match by a score of 8-5.
“I love playing with [Goodman],” Rosen said. “We really have good chemistry. [Goodman] actually won all eight matches she played this week, she should be very proud of her performance.”
Trailing 2-1, to the Athenas after doubles, the Eagles rallied in the singles matches.
In the first match, Rosen played a close first set with her opponent. After getting a crucial break, she overcame multiple deuces to win her first set. Rosen handled her opponent in the second set, winning 6-2.
The second match did not go as well for the Eagles, as Satterfield lost each set 6-4.
The third match was the turning point of the day. Su, who lost earlier in doubles with Fuhr, won a very close match in three sets (6-4, 3-6, 6-2).
Goodman played the fourth match, dominating her matchup by winning 6-3, 6-3.
Emory was then in the lead by a score of 4-3, with two matches to play.
In the fifth match, Harding forced three sets to keep pressure off of junior Madison Gordon.
With her teammate Harding battling hard in the court adjacent to her, Gordon was motivated to play equally hard against her opponent. She clobbered her opponent in two sets (6-0, 6-1), and the Eagles won 5-4 as a result.
“We all had great energy going into singles after falling down 1-2 from doubles so I wasn’t worried we weren’t going to fight and be able to pull out the match through singles,” Gordon said. “Moving forward, I’m really excited about our trip to Virginia where we have three tough matches.”
The eagles will continue their season Friday, March 27, when they will go up against Washington and Lee University (Va.) at the Fab 5 Tournament in Lexington (Va.).
