The Emory women’s tennis team began their journey toward an eighth NCAA national championship at the Elon Fall Invitational, held at Elon University (N.C.) between Sept. 13 and Sept. 15. The team returned home with freshman Katelyn Thomas winning the Oak draw in singles and the doubles pair of freshman Stephanie Shulman and sophomore Emma Cartledge winning the Gold draw.
“It was a lot of fun getting back on the court for the new season,” said junior team captain Katie Chang. “It was nice to have my teammates by my side again.”
The Eagles’ season kicked off on Friday with five doubles wins and four singles wins across 18 total matches. Chang and sophomore Lauren Yoon both picked up singles victories. Yoon won in straight sets over junior Tayah Cross from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, while Chang came back after losing the first set to win 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 over Presbyterian College (S.C.) junior Ella Rowley. Shulman won her collegiate debut over North Carolina Central University senior Sofia Miller 7-5, 6-3, while junior Sasha Hartje also won in straight sets 6-1, 6-3 over Presbyterian sophomore Shelly Ray.
Shulman carried the momentum from her singles win to the doubles tournament. She, along with Cartledge, won both of their matches in the Gold bracket, recording scores of 6-4 and 6-3. Junior team captain Defne Olcay and sophomore Jessica Fatemi also started the day off strong with a 6-4 win but were eventually eliminated in their second match after losing in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (7-5). Junior Stephanie Taylor and freshman Katelyn Thomas dropped their first match 6-4 to Gardner-Webb University (N.C.) but won their consolation match 6-3. After being defeated 6-2 in their opening match, freshman Alexa Goetz and sophomore Christina Watson bounced by for a 6-4 win the consolation round.
On Saturday, Shulman and Thomas each picked up two straight singles wins in straight sets to reach the finals of their respective draws. Shulman won her matches 6-1, 6-4 and 6-0, 6-3, while Thomas recorded 6-1, 6-2 and 6-4, 6-4 victories. Hartje won her first match of the day in her draw 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) but fell short in the semifinals 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) to Mercer University (Ga.).
Assistant Coach Barbora Krtickova was really impressed by the performances of Thomas and Shulman.
“When we recruited [Thomas and Shulman], we knew that they were going to do great,” Krtickova said. “It’s amazing that it already shows in the first tournament that they will contribute to the team not only in singles but also in doubles.”
Shulman and Cartledge advanced to the Gold bracket finals in doubles with a 6-1 win, while Watson and Goetz along with Hartje and Chang also picked up doubles victories in the consolation rounds.
On the final day of the Invitational, the Eagles dominated singles in the Oak and Phoenix draws and doubles in the Gold draw. Thomas won the Oak draw with a 6-4, 6-2 finals victory. Shulman lost a tough finals singles match in three sets 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 but she and Cartledge still took home hardware in the Gold Draw with a walkover win over Gardner-Webb in doubles, after a forfeit from the Gardner-Webb pair due to injury. In the Phoenix draw, Chang won her consolation match 6-0, 6-2, while Yoon won hers 6-2, 6-2.
Chang emphasized that this was the team’s first tournament and that there’s still plenty to work on during the fall season.
“Our biggest focus right now as a team is to get to know what it feels like to be competing with each other,'' Chang said. “[When representing Emory,] we’re representing something so much bigger than ourselves … [We’re] learning how to compete with each other, feed off of each others’ energy and carry each other through tough matches.”
The team next takes to the court on Sept. 27 for the three-day ITA South Regional Championships at Berry College (Ga.).
