MOBILE, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle women's tennis team earned a huge program win on Thursday when the fifth-seeded Eagles toppled fourth-seeded Auburn Montgomery 5-3 to advance to the semifinal round of the NAIA National Championship. Thursday's victory was the Eagles' first over the defending national champion Warhawks team in national tournament play and improved ERAU's overall record to 17-5 on the year. It also marked the first time since the 2000 season that AUM will not play in a national championship match.

The top-ranked duo of Kristina Marova and Hui-I Huang started the Eagles off on the right foot with their 8-1 defeat of Anna Rudolfova and Paula Diaz at No. 1 doubles. At the second doubles position, Jade Curtis and Siriporn Phakamad evened the score with an 8-3 win over Paola Montero and Anna Götz.

The match at No. 3 doubles saw Paula Ortiz Couder and Eva Vilar jumped out to a 4-1 lead over Celine Lenertz and Channel Cunningham, but the AUM pair fought back to tie the score at 4-4 after which a see-saw battle ensued. Up 7-6, the Eagles looked to Vilar to serve out the match and the freshman did not disappoint as she and her fellow freshman Ortiz Couder combined to pull out an 8-6 win and give the Blue and Gold a 2-1 advantage heading into singles.

The Warhawks notched two early singles points to move ahead 3-2 as Cunningham topped Marova 6-0, 6-2 on court three and top-ranked Curtis bested No. 18 Huang 6-3, 6-1 at the top spot.

Once again the freshmen stepped up for the Eagles, as Ortiz Couder downed Phakamad 6-3, 6-2 on court six and Vilar handed Lenertz a 6-3, 6-4 defeat at the fourth position. Those two singles victories gave ERAU a 4-3 edge and the Eagles looked to Götz on court two and Montero for the winning point.

At No. 2 singles, Götz and Diaz engaged in a marathon first set that saw the ERAU freshman battle back from a 4-1 deficit to take a 6-5 lead. Diaz managed to hold to knot the score at 6-6 and held off Götz 8-6 in the tiebreaker to win a first frame that lasted well over an hour.

Meanwhile, at the fifth spot, Montero fell behind early, dropping the first set 6-4 to Rudolfova. The senior's experience came into play in the second set as she topped the freshman Rudolfova 6-3 to force a decisive third set. The final frame was all Montero who rolled to a 6-1 win to score the clinching point for the Eagles for the second straight match.

The Eagles, who will be making just the second national semifinal appearance in program history, will face top-seeded Xavier in final four competition at 9 a.m. (CST) on Friday.

#5 Embry-Riddle 5, #4 Auburn Montgomery 3

Singles competition
1. #1 Jade Curtis (AUM) def. #18 Hui-I Huang (ERAUWT13) 6-3, 6-1
2. Anna Gotz (ERAUWT13) vs. Paula Diaz (AUM) no result
3. Channel Cunningham (AUM) def. Kristina Marova (ERAUWT13) 6-0, 6-2
4. Eva Vilar (ERAUWT13) def. Celine Lenertz (AUM) 6-3, 6-4
5. Paola Montero (ERAUWT13) def. Anna Rudolfova (AUM) 4-6, 6-3, 6-1
6. Paula Ortiz Couder (ERAUWT13) def. Siriporn Phakamad (AUM) 6-3, 6-2

Doubles competition
. #1 Kristina Marova/Hui-I Huang (ERAUWT13) def. Anna Rudolfova/Paula Diaz (AUM) 8-1
2. Jade Curtis/Siriporn Phakamad (AUM) def. Paola Montero/Anna Gotz (ERAUWT13) 8-3
3. Paula Ortiz Couder/Eva Vilar (ERAUWT13) def. Celine Lenertz/Channel Cunningham (AUM) 8-6

Match Notes:
Embry-Riddle 17-5; National ranking #5
Auburn Montgomery 19-8; National ranking #4
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (3,1,6,4,5)
NAIA National Quarterfinal
Montero clinched at No. 5 singles