Claremont, Calif. - The second-seeded Pomona-Pitzer Women's Tennis team defeated seventh-seeded Cal Lutheran in the quarterfinals 5-0 and third-seeded Redlands 7-2 in the semifinals on Friday, to advance to Saturday's SCIAC Championship match.
The Sagehens, who are ranked No. 10 nationally, improve to 14-5 on the season and will face undefeated and second-ranked CMS, the tournament's top seed, in the championship tomorrow at 10 a.m., which will be played at Pomona-Pitzer's Pauley Tennis Complex (the site was determined by coin flip). CMS remained undefeated on the year by defeating Caltech 5-0 and La Verne 7-2.
The quarterfinals were only played up until the match was clinched, due to there being two matches scheduled for the same day, and Pomona-Pitzer got its match with Cal Lutheran done quickly. The Sagehens won all three doubles courts, and junior Arthi Padmanabhan (Saratoga, Calif.) and sophomore Marissa Cohen (San Diego, Calif. - pictured) won 6-0, 6-0 decisions at No. 4 and No. 6 singles to end the match in a little over an hour, with Cohen providing the clinching point.
Padmanabhan and freshman Lea Lynn Yen (Fullerton, Calif.) combined for an 8-1 win at No. 3 doubles against Redlands, ranked No. 11 in the nation, in the second match of the day. Senior Kara Wang (Saratoga, Calif.) and junior Sammy Chao (Hong Kong) also picked up an 8-6 win at No. 1 doubles to give Pomona-Pitzer a 2-1 lead.
Yen took a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 5 singles to give the Sagehens a 3-1 lead, and freshman Marie Fleming (Boston, Mass.) followed with a two-set win at No. 4 (6-1, 6-1). After freshman Mae Coyiuto (Makati City, Philippines) retired at No. 2 due to cramping in the 90-plus temperatures to make the score 4-2, Chao earned the clinching win at No. 3 singles (6-3, 6-1) to send the Sagehens through to the finals.
Padmanabhan went to third-set extended (10-point) tiebreaker to get her second singles win of the day at No. 6, and senior Jamie Solomon (Los Gatos, Calif.) finished off the match with a win at No. 1, which also went to a third-set tiebreaker, to cap off the 7-2 victory.
Pomona-Pitzer fell to CMS during the regular season 7-2, as Coyiuto and Fleming earned singles wins to account for the Sagehens points.
