No. 8 Tartans Nearly Upset No. 1 Johns Hopkins

(FREDERICKSBURG, Va.) - The eighth-ranked Carnegie Mellon University women's tennis team fought the No. 1 ranked team in Johns Hopkins University to the end, before falling 5-4 with the final point coming down to a third set in the final match. The Tartans are now 11-3 overall while the Blue Jays are 6-0.

Junior Angela Pratt (Saratoga, Calif./St. Francis) and freshman Nicholle Torres (Weston, Fla./Great Neck South) won their fourth straight doubles match, earning the first point of the match with an 8-4 win at No. 2 doubles. Junior Bryn Raschke (Del Mar, Calif./Torrey Pines) and freshman Vanessa Pavia (Thornwood, N.Y./Academy of our Lady of Good Counsel) fought hard but fell 8-6 at No. 1 doubles before the sophomore pair of Brooke Tsu (Hillsborough, Calif./Burlingame) and Elizabeth Martin (St. Simons Island, Ga./Frederica Academy) fell in a tiebreaker 9-8(7-5), giving Hopkins a 2-1 lead.

Torres won her No. 4 singles match 6-3, 6-2 to tie the score at 2-2 before Hopkins retook the lead with a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 2 singles.

Raschke was next to finish as she won, 6-4, 6-2, at No. 6 singles for the Tartans and tied the score again.

Martin pulled out her No. 5 singles match in three sets, 7-5, 4-6, 6-0 to force the deciding point to be made by the final match.

That match was played by Tsu at No. 3 singles. She forced a third set after falling in set one, 7-5, and winning set two, 6-3. The third set lived up to expectations as neither player led by more than one until Johns Hopkins earned the match point to win 7-5.

The Tartans return home for their first home match of the spring on Saturday, March 29 when they host No. 22 Washington & Lee University at 1:00 p.m.