Tartans Open ITA National Team Indoor Championships with a Victory

(GREENCASTLE, Ind.) - The Carnegie Mellon University women's tennis team, ranked seventh in the nation, traveled to DePauw University for the 2015 ITA National Team Indoor Championships and faced 20th-ranked Washington and Lee University in the opener. The Tartans dropped the Generals 5-4 to advance to 6-1 on the year.

The Tartans held a 2-1 advantage after doubles play as the No. 3 and No. 1 pairs picked up victories. The first point came from sophomore Vanessa Pavia (Thornwood, N.Y./Academy of our Lady of Good Counsel) and freshman Stacy Chang (North Wales, Pa./North Penn), as they won 8-3 in the third slot. Senior Bryn Raschke (Del Mar, Calif./Torrey Pines) and freshman Cori Sidell (Redwood Shores, Calif./Carlmont) later pulled out a tiebreaker at No. 1 doubles to win, 9-8(8-6) after trailing 8-7.

The Generals tied the match at 2-2 with a win at No. 2 singles before Carnegie Mellon took back the lead with a victory from Pavia at No. 1 singles, 6-3, 6-2.

Sophomore Nicolle Torres (Weston, Fla./Great Neck South) won at No. 3 singles, 7-5, 7-5, to give the Tartans a two-point lead and put them in a match-point situation with three matches to play.

Washington and Lee climbed back to tie the match at 4-4 with Raschke playing for the match at No. 6 singles. The senior pulled out the three-set victory, winning the first and third sets by identical 6-4 scores.

The Tartans move on to face University Athletic Association (UAA) foe Washington University in St. Louis, ranked eighth nationally, at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, February 28 in the semifinals.