Claremont, Calif. - Freshman Emily Kuo (pictured) bounced back after falling 6-4 in the first set to take a three-set win (4-6, 6-0, 6-3) with the match tied 4-4 and give the No. 8 Pomona-Pitzer Women's Tennis team a 5-4 win over No. 6 Bowdoin.
With the win, the Sagehens improve to 5-2 on the year, with the only two losses coming to top 10 teams (No. 2 Emory and No. 7 Carnegie Mellon). Bowdoin is now 3-2, with its two losses also coming to top 10 teams (No. 2 Emory and No. 8 Pomona-Pitzer).
The Sagehens led 2-1 after doubles, but Bowdoin won the first three singles points to take a 4-2 lead, but the momentum then swung Pomona-Pitzer's way. Freshman Grace Hruska earned a 6-4, 6-1 win at No. 4 to close the gap to 4-3, and freshman Maryann Zhao followed with a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 3 to level the match at 4-4.
The No. 6 court was by far the slowest moving, as they were still early in the second set when the other courts had finished up. After Bowdoin's Kyra Silitch overcame an early 3-0 deficit to win the first set 6-4, Kuo regrouped for a 6-0 win in the second to force a split.
Silitch broke to start the third set, but Kuo then took control with four straight wins for a 4-1 lead. Silitch used a couple of big serves to hold, and Kuo then pushed the lead to 5-2 when her deep topspin shot at 40-30 pinned Silitch against the back fence.
Silitch held again, but Kuo won the match on her forehand hitting three winners in the final game, including two passing shots, the second of which buzzed by Silitch crosscourt to seal the win for the Sagehens.
Pomona-Pitzer earned a one-point advantage going into singles, prevailing in a pair of tight battles at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles Bowdoin took the first point 8-0 at No. 3. Junior Lea Lynn Yen and Hruska took a 9-7 win at No. 1, breaking serve to close it out, while the No. 2 team of freshmen Shivani Doraiswami and Emily Chen won the swing point 8-6 on back-to-back serve return winners.
Pomona-Pitzer will be back in action tomorrow with another top 10 battle, this one against No. 4 Amherst.
