Claremont, Calif. - The No. 6 ranked Pomona-Pitzer Women's Tennis team lost four matches in tiebreakers (two in doubles, two in singles) as it was upset 7-2 by La Verne in the semifinals of the SCIAC Tournament on Friday at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center at CMS.

The Sagehens advanced to the semifinals with a 5-0 win over Caltech in the Friday morning quarterfinal match, but were relegated to tomorrow's third-place match against Redlands (10 a.m.) with the loss to La Verne, falling to 15-6 on the season. The Leopards will take on top-seeded CMS in the championship.

The Sagehens were locked in tight battles on all three doubles courts, but La Verne seized momentum late. Andrea Madrigal and Bridget Etchegaray were down 7-4 at No. 2, but rallied to take the next five games and win 9-7. Both the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles matches went to tiebreakers, but the Leopards rolled to a 7-0 win at No. 1 and then edged the Sagehens 7-5 at No. 3 to complete the doubles sweep. 

Senior Arthi Padmanabhan tried to give the Sagehens some momentum with a quick 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 4 singles, but Etchegaray won a 6-2, 6-1 match at No. 6, and Madrigal seized momentum late for a 7-5, 6-1 win at No. 1 to seal it.

Freshman Maddie Gordon, who won 6-0, 6-0 against Caltech, took a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 5 singles to give Pomona-Pitzer its other point against the Leopards, which won its final two points in tiebreakers, with Laina Matsuda winning 7-5, 3-6, 10-7 at No. 2 over Mae Coyiuto and Jeannette Losario winning 2-6, 6-3, 11-9 at No. 3 over Lea Lynn Yen.  

Senior Claire Willey (pictured) picked up the clinching point in singles against Caltech, winning 6-2, 6-1 at No. 6 to put the Sagehens through to the semifinals.