From University of Chicago Athletics

The ninth-ranked University of Chicago women's tennis team played a solid round to down No. 12 Washington and Lee and advance in the winner's bracket of the 2018 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division III Indoor National Championships Friday.

The Maroons (9-0) remained perfect in dual play on the season and defeated the Generals (6-1) despite the absence of usual No. 1 player Marjorie Antohi.

"I thought this was a really gritty performance for the women," Head Coach Jay Tee said. "A few minutes before the match, we found out Marjorie wasn't going to be able to play which forced us to move some things around, but we didn't let it affect us."

Fourth-seeded Claire Handa took over at No. 1 singles and won in straight sets over WLU's Michelle Fleenor, 7-5, 6-1, joining teammates Catherine Xu (No. 2 singles), Estefania Navarro (No. 3 singles), and Laura Gutierrez (No. 5) to win in two. Junior Alyssa Rudin was also victorious at No. 4 singles, rebounding in an opening-set loss to take her match in three, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

The No. 1 doubles duo of Daryn Ellison and Xu also won, 8-4, and the No. 3 doubles team of Navarro and Rudin pulled out a thrilling victory, 8-7, after a 5-0 win in the tiebreaker.

Added Tee: "Everyone really stepped up for their team and brought some great energy and tenacity to the court and that helped propel us to the win."