Claremont, Calif. - The Pomona-Pitzer Women's Tennis team won all four singles decisions after falling behind 2-1 in doubles to take a 5-2 win over Redlands in the NCAA Regional Semifinals at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Saturday, with senior Jamie Solomon (Los Gatos, Calif. - pictured) providing the clinching point at No. 1.
With the win, Pomona-Pitzer, ranked No. 10 nationally, improves to 15-6 on the year, while defeating No. 11 Redlands for the third time this season (regular season, SCIAC Tournament, NCAA Regionals). The Sagehens will move on to face top-seeded and undefeated CMS tomorrow at 12 noon.
Junior Arthi Padmanabhan (Saratoga, Calif.) continued her torrid postseason play by winning 8-1 at No. 3 doubles with freshman Lea Lynn Yen and 6-0, 6-1 at No. 6 singles. Padmanabhan was 6-0 in the SCIAC Tournament in singles and doubles with two 6-0, 6-0 wins and now has won nine straight in both singles and doubles.
Yen also had a dominant performance in singles at No. 5, taking a 6-1, 6-1 victory, while junior Sammy Chao (Hong Kong) hit a groove midway through the first set to take a 6-3, 6-1 win and put the Sagehens ahead 4-2.
Their quick start at singles was key, as Pomona-Pitzer lost at both No. 1 and No. 2 doubles 8-3, giving Redlands a big momentum boost. However, Padmanabhan and Yen's quick start at No. 5 and No. 6 started to turn the tables, and the Sagehens ended up taking the first set all all six singles courts.
The key first-set win was at No. 1, where Solomon was down 4-0 to Jessica Ly, but stormed back with six straight wins to take the first set 6-4. That would prove to be significant, as Pomona-Pitzer's fifth and decisive point proved to be a bit elusive. Freshman Marie Fleming (Boston, Mass.), batting an injury at No. 4, fell in the second set and had to go to a third, while Mae Coyiuto (Makati City, Philippines) suffered a late break in the second set to fall 6-3 and go to a third set as well.
Solomon, though, was in a tight battle in her second set, holding serve to take a 5-4 lead. The two players had a lengthy battle on Ly's serve, before Solomon forced Ly to extend on an overhead and miss long for the final point, wrapping up a 6-4, 6-4 win and giving the Sagehens the 5-2 win in the match.
Pomona-Pitzer and CMS have met twice this season, with the Athenas winning 7-2 both times. In the regular season, Coyiuto and Fleming provided singles wins for the Sagehens, while in the SCIAC title match, Padmanabhan won 6-0, 6-0 in singles and 8-2 in doubles with Yen (Coyiuto did not play due to injury).
The two teams also met in last year's NCAA Regional finals, with CMS prevailing in a tight contest 5-3.
