On to the Elite 8!
With a 5-1 win over Chapman at the NCAA Regional Finals, Pomona-Pitzer advances for the 4th consecutive year to the NCAA DIII Team Championships to be held May 25-27 at U. of Mary Washington, in Fredericksburg, VA.

As the top seed and host of the NCAA Regionals (the preliminary rounds of the national championship), PP took a first round bye and faced the University of Texas at Tyler in the second round. UT Tyler had taken down the Whitworth team on Thursday, but the Sagehens proved to be too strong. Taking a 2-1 lead early with wins at #1 (freshmen Jamie Solomon and Kara Wang) and #3 (senior Zoe Fisher and freshman Jessica Hsu) doubles, the Sagehen singles took care of business with quick wins at #2 (Solomon) and #3 (Wang). Holsted won the 5^th point for PP at #4.

On Saturday, the PP women took on Chapman, who had defeated the University of Redlands the day prior. Chapman got off to an early lead with a win over Fisher/Hsu at third doubles, but the sophomore pairing of Nicole Holsted and Emily Kawahara quickly dug in for the win at #2 doubles. The Sagehen #1 team, Solomon and Wang, rallied to take the final doubles point.

Up 2-1 going into singles, the Sagehens settled into their rhythm. Solomon, the #3 ranked player in the west, made short work of her opponent at the second position. Ranked #5 in the west, Wang followed at the third spot, making the score 4-1 for PP.

Meanwhile, on the first court, PP’s top player, senior Siobhan Finicane (#2 in the west) rallied from behind in a battle against the West’s top ranked player, Chapman’s Elizabeth Lewis. Lewis and Finicane were 1-1 going into the match, with Lewis winning their most recent meeting in a marathon match last fall. With Finicane evening the score at 5-5 in the second set, the match looked to be another long battle. However, it was not to be, as Holsted again took the 5^th point and the match for the Sagehens.

This will be the fourth consecutive appearance by the Pomona-Pitzer Women’s Tennis Team at the NCAA DIII Final 8. The Sagehens also have 3 players (Finicane, Solomon and Wang) qualified for the NCAA Singles Championship, and Solomon and Wang will represent PP in the NCAA Doubles Championship.

More information on NCAA Individual Nationals and Team Final Eight may be found here: http://www.ncaa.com/sports/w-tennis/champpage/w-tennis-div3-index.html