RICHARDSON, Texas — Over the past few years, the Southwestern women's tennis team has made incremental progress climbing up the national rankings. On Saturday, the Pirates had a perfect foil to show how far they've come in a 5-1 win over the Washington-St. Louis Bears to win the Regional Championship.
Two years ago, Southwestern sustained its first loss of the 2019 season with a 6-3 loss to Washington-St. Louis. The Bears swept doubles and took the match, swinging a couple of tiebreakers their way. Then, Southwestern head coach Billy Porter swore the team would grow from its effort in that loss.
The most significant leaps Southwestern has taken since is doubles, where the Pirates turned a weakness into strength and, in doing so, have turned the tide on opponents who bested them in the past.
Alli Ziehm and Emma Kesterson have been a rock for the Pirates from No. 3 doubles, opening the match with an 8-3 victory over Emma Sass and Divya Sharma to improve to 6-0 this season.
The Pirates finished the doubles sweep with a pair of 8-6 wins. Playing in their fourth match together, Nina Mitrofanova and Mariana Quetzeri bested Laurel Wanger and Katherine Johnston in No. 2 doubles to remain undefeated. Esther Bowers and Taylor Despriet closed doubles with a win over Ally Persky and Karen Gao, the fourth-ranked doubles tandem in the Central Region, in the top spot.
"We played incredible doubles on all three lines," Porter said. "Esther and Taylor beat another top-notch team to complete the sweep."
Those doubles victories proved crucial, giving Southwestern the edge going into singles matches in which Washington-St. Louis better held its ground.
Kesterson opened singles with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Sharma to put Washington-St. Louis on the brink of elimination. The Bears fought back to claim a set in No. 2, 5, and 6 singles, with Johnston putting Washington-St. Louis on the scoreboard with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Ziehm in No. 6 singles.
"Emma was lights out today and just played with infectious energy all match," Porter said. "It set Nina Mitrofanova up for the biggest clinch in program history."
Mitrofanova closed the door on Washington-St. Louis for good with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Persky, an NCAA Individual Championships qualifier and fifth-ranked singles player in the Central Region, in No. 1 singles.
With the win over the No. 2-ranked program in the Central Region, Southwestern improves to 17-4 this season and advances to the Elite 8. The Pirates will face the winner between Emory and Williams on May 24, in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
"Making NCAA's was the goal and for us to be headed to Chattanooga and be in the Elite 8 is just simply remarkable," Porter said.
