Bulldogs Prevail in Four Three-Set Matches En Route to Victory

TEMPE, Ariz. – The Yale women's tennis team capped its spring break trip out West on a high note on Friday with a resounding 6-1 win over No. 64 Brigham Young (4-5, 1-0 WCC).  Playing at the Whiteman Tennis Center, No. 50 Yale (5-6, 0-0 Ivy) performed at a high level in singles play after narrowly dropping the doubles point.  Of the Bulldogs' six singles victories, four were decided in a third set.   

With the win, Yale edges closer to an even record on the season and improves its win-loss mark on neutral surfaces to 4-3.  The triumph was anything but a foregone conclusion, however, as the Cougars came out firing to snatch the doubles point. 

At No. 1 doubles, Yale's talented duo of sophomore Madeleine Hamilton and classmate Ree Ree Li, ranked No. 52 in the nation, rolled to an 8-2 win over Brigham Young's tandem of Desiree Tran and Nicolette Tran.  At No. 2 doubles, Mayci Jones and Toby Miclat defeated freshman Sherry Li and junior Hanna Yu.  The doubles point came down to the clash at No. 3 doubles between Yale's team of junior Amber Li and senior captain Annie Sullivan and Brigham Young's pairing of Morgan Anderson and Meghan Sheehan-Dizon.  After a competitive back-and-forth that culminated in a deciding tiebreaker, the Cougars prevailed to gain the early lead.

Despite the deficit, the Bulldogs' spirits remained high entering singles play.  Sherry Li and Sullivan both avenged their defeats in doubles with straight-set victories in singles.  Li stayed strong in a close second set to defeat Miclat, 6-1, 7-5, while Sullivan improved to a 9-2 record this season with a comprehensive 6-3, 6-0 win over Nicolette Tran.  These would be Yale's only straightforward wins of the day, and there was much work still to be done if the Bulldogs wanted to seal the match.

All four remaining singles matches went to three sets.  The stakes were high, as Yale needed to win two of these four matches, while the Cougars needed to win three of them.  At No. 6 singles, sophomore Courtney Amos fended off a comeback from her opponent, Savannah Ware, to notch a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 win.  Even with this win, however, the match still could have easily gone the way of the Cougars, as Brigham Young's players had captured the first set in the No's. 1, 2 and 4 singles matches.  Ultimately, though, the Bulldogs mounted comebacks in all three.  At No. 1 singles, Hamilton beat Jones 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.  At the No. 2 spot, Ree Ree Li finished strongly in a 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-0 win over Sheehan-Dizon.  And in similar fashion, at No. 4 singles, Yu cruised to a 5-7, 6-2, 6-0 triumph over Desiree Tran after a tight opening set.

Yale's next outing will be on its home courts.  On Friday, Mar. 21, at 2:00 p.m., the Bulldogs are scheduled to take on Bryant, and then on Sunday, Mar. 23, at 12:00 p.m. the Bulldogs will face St. John's.

Report by Robert Batista '15, Yale Sports Publicity