The Emory University women’s tennis team embarked on a five-hour trip to Nicholasville, Ky., for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Indoor Tennis Championships last weekend. During the three-day tournament from March 1 to 3, the Eagles faced off against Johns Hopkins University (Md.), Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) (Pa.) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), placing fifth after the final round.
Last season, Emory faced MIT on the first day of the ITA Championships and lost by a single point. The team’s opening match this year was against No. 8 ranked Johns Hopkins, which was the first time the two teams played against each other this season.
It came down to the final match against Johns Hopkins to decide who would win that day with the score tied 3-3. Senior Ilayda Baykan lost the last singles match of the day, resulting in a 4-3 loss for the Eagles. Senior Ana Cristina Perez noted the team had adjusted to their opponent’s playing style “a bit too late.”
Despite the loss, half of the Eagles’ singles players won their matches. Head coach Bridget Disher described the loss against Johns Hopkins as a “valuable experience.”
“The biggest takeaway for them is you often learn more from a loss than a win at this point in the season,” Disher said. “So yes, hard to swallow, but at the same time I don’t think we would have reflected quite as deeply on the match had we won it.”
The loss provided motivation for the following day of competition when the Eagles annihilated Carnegie Mellon by a score of 6-1. Three of the women bested the Tartans in two sets, including freshman Yanire Marte, the only freshman on the team, who won her singles match (6-0, 6-0).
“Yanire has jumped right in,” Disher said. “She wants to do the extra work, she wants to come in and watch tape, she wants to do all of the things that are going to make her a better player, but she’s really focused on being a pivotal part of the team.”
On the third day of the championship, the Eagles faced MIT for a clinch match, in which the game is over once a player reaches four points. The Eagles won the singles’ clinch match 4-0. Sophomore Emily Kantrovitz said beating MIT was really a “full circle moment” after last season’s loss.
Kantrovitz and Perez went undefeated throughout the tournament in singles matches and as partners in the doubles matches.
“Ana is so fun to play with,” Kantrovitz said. “She can literally get to any ball. She slides around the court like she’s playing on clay even though it’s a hard court.”
Perez also had nothing but kind words for her doubles partner.
“Emily’s honestly the best doubles partner I could ever ask for,” Perez said. “It’s just so calming to have her there next to me on this side of the net because I know I can trust her.”
Disher said the team plans to focus on the process for the rest of the season rather than specific tournament performances.
“For us, to be able to execute under pressure is going to be one of our biggest goals,” Disher said. “I think that is going to allow us to reach our ultimate goal of competing for a national championship at the end of the year.”
