#10 Tartans Place Third at ITA National Team Indoor Championship Defeating #9 Chicago

(CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.) – The Carnegie Mellon University women's tennis team, ranked 10th nationally, placed third at the 2018 ITA National Team Indoor Championship after defeating ninth-ranked University of Chicago, 5-0, Sunday morning. This year's championship was hosted by Sewanee in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The win moves the Tartans overall record to 10-2 while Chicago is now 9-2.

For the second time in three days, the Tartans opened play with a sweep in doubles. The number three double team of senior Katie Lai (Hagatna, Guam / St. Andrew's Episcopal School) and junior Jamie Vizelman (Highland Heights, Ohio / Mayfield) started the scoring off for the Tartans with an 8-4 win. The tandem of sophomore Vinaya Rao (Vernon Hills, Ill. / Adlai E. Stevenson) and freshman Melissa Strome (West Bloomfield, Mich. / West Bloomfield) won 8-6 at second doubles before senior Cori Sidell (Redwood Shores, Calif. / Carlmont) and sophomore Courtney Ollis (Suffern, N.Y. / Suffern) completed the sweep. The Tartans top doubles team won 8-7 (4) over Claire Handa and Marjorie Antohi.

Carnegie Mellon then got a point when Lai's opponent retired in the second set of her four singles match. Lai won the first set 6-1 and was down 3-0 in the second. The match then was sealed when Sidell defeated Antohi in straight sets at first singles. Sidell won 6-1, 6-3.

With Sunday's matches all be played to decision, the Tartans claimed the 5-0 win. Carnegie Mellon was up a set in each of the other four matches that were stopped.

Next up for the Tartans is their spring break trip out west. Their first match will be Friday, March 9 against Whittier.