MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Centre women's tennis earned a spot in the Southern Athletic Association Championship match, defeating Rhodes by a 5-1 score Saturday in the semifinals at the Adams Tennis Complex.
The two-seed Colonels (10-7) will be in the title bout for the second time in the last three seasons, facing top-seed and 30th-ranked Sewanee. The Lynx finish their season 12-5 overall.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Centre claimed a battle between regionally-ranked tandems in No. 1 doubles, as
Neha Rao and
Hannah Doherty defeated Rhodes' Michelle Adan-Pol and Dasha Safarian, 8-4. It marked the Colonel pair's seventh straight win, which also includes a regular season victory over the Lynx duo.
- With the match tied 1-1 following Rhodes' win at No. 2 doubles,
Emily Zelichenok and
Katharine Sherman helped gain an advantage with an 8-3 decision in No. 3 against Dallas Bennett and Caroline Yarbrough.
- Rao was the first singles individual across the finish line, handing Safarian a lopsided 6-1, 6-1 loss in a meeting of regionally-ranked players.
- Doherty rallied from behind to defeat Bennett, 4-6, 6-2, 6-0, giving Centre its fourth point.
- Agibail Kent took the decisive fifth point, winning 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 over Caroline Doherty to push the Colonels through to the tournament finale.
UP NEXT
The Colonels meet the perennial-powerhouse Tigers Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. Sewanee won the teams' regular season match, 6-3, back on March 9.
