Strome and Taylor Advance to Doubles Final at the ITA Oracle Cup

(ROME, Ga.) - Carnegie Mellon University women's tennis doubles team of sophomore Melissa Strome (West Bloomfield, Mich. / West Bloomfield) and freshman Danna Taylor (Orlando, Fla. / Circle Christian School) advanced to the championship match of the 2018 Division III Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Oracle Cup following a straight-set victory on Friday.

Strome and Taylor, who are unseeded, faced University Athletic Association (UAA) tandem Jessica Liu and Madeleine Paolucci of Case Western Reserve University, seeded fourth, in the semifinals. The duo won in straight sets defeating the Spartans pair, 6-0 and 6-2. Strome and Taylor will now face Caroline Cox and Catherine Allen of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, who are seeded second, on Saturday for the championship of the ITA Oracle Cup.

The tandem becomes the third pair in school history to reach the national final. The duo of Amy Staloch and Mona Iyer played in the finals in 2004 while Lauren Chen and Courtney Chin made an appearance in 2011. Both tandems fell short in the championship match.

In singles play, Taylor advanced to the fifth-place match on Saturday and will play Risa Fukushige of Skidmore College. The freshman defeated Michelle Uyeda of Linfield College 6-2, 6-3, on Friday in her consolation semifinal match.

The championship event is being held at the Rome Tennis Center at Berry College in Rome, Georgia.