MOBILE, Ala. – Appearing in its second ever national tournament semifinal, the third-seeded Embry-Riddle women's tennis team got its 23rd win of the 2012 season with a dramatic 5-3 upset of second-seeded Fresno Pacific at the NAIA National Championship on Friday. The victory marks the Eagles' first ever appearance in the national tournament championship match and improves their overall record to 23-3 on the year. The Sunbirds, who finished as national runner-up in 2011, ended their season at 22-5.
The match, which lasted just over four hours, saw the Eagles grab a sweep in doubles to take an early 3-0 lead.
Kristina Marova and
Paola Montero were the first to register a point for the Blue and Gold as they defeated Anna Mikjaylona and Jennifer Ren 8-3 at No. 3 doubles. At the top doubles spot, fourth-ranked
Yi Ching Chen and
Josefine Strom toppled FPU's second-ranked duo of Katerena Palilivets and Erika Januskova 8-3 to make the score 2-0 in favor of ERAU.
On court two,
Ekaterina Kamendova and
Rocio Frej Vitalle worked their way up to a 7-6 edge over Maria Buora and Yumiko Justin. The Eagles had a chance to serve for the match but were broken by the FPU pair to force extra sets. On the change over, Kamendova and Frej Vitalle broke Buora and Justin, and behind Frej Vitalle's serve, pulled out a 9-7 win for the three-point Eagle cushion.
Singles play saw the Sunbirds even the score at 3-3 as Januskova topped Strom 6-1, 6-0 at No. 5, Mikjaylona bested Montero 6-1, 6-4 and Palilivets pulled out a three-setter against Chen, 0-6, 6-2, 6-2.
At the fourth singles spot, Marova suffered a tough first-set lost (6-1) to Ren. The ERAU sophomore showed great resolve in battling back to win the second 7-5 and force a decisive third set. Marova then used the momentum of her second-set victory to down Ren 6-2 and reclaim a one-point (4-3) advantage for ERAU.
Kamendova and Frej Vitalle each won their first sets on courts two and three, respectively, but both players suffered losses in their second sets to send both matches into extra stanzas. Battling heat and exhaustion Frej Vitalle was able to take a slim 4-3 lead over Buora, but the FPU junior fought back to pull ahead 5-4. Meanwhile, playing next to her at No. 3 singles, Kamendova opened up a 5-2 lead over Justin and after Justin held to make the score 5-3, Kamendova jumped ahead 40-15 and converted on one of her three match points to win her fixture and propel the Eagles into national title match.
The Eagles will face a familiar opponent in the national finale as they will take on top seed Auburn Montgomery, the Eagles' national semifinal opponent in 2011, at 10 a.m. on Saturday. The defending national champion Warhawks defeated No. 4 Oklahoma Christian 5-1 in their semifinal match.
