MOBILE, Ala. -- For the second year in a row the Indiana Wesleyan women’s tennis team has reached the NAIA National Championship Quarterfinals. IWU trailed 4-2 and was forced to win the last three singles matches -- all in three sets -- to earn the come-from-behind 5-4 victory over No. 7 Xavier (La.) on Wednesday in Mobile.
MATCH VITALS
- NAIA National Championship - Second Round
- Score: Indiana Wesleyan def. Xavier (La.), 5-4
- Records: Indiana Wesleyan 37-8 | Xavier (La.) 7-14
- Tournament Seed: Indiana Wesleyan - No. 10 | Xavier (La.) - No. 7
- NAIA Ranking: Indiana Wesleyan - No. 10 | Xavier - No. 7
- Location: Copeland-Cox Tennis Center | Mobile, Alabama
DOUBLES
SINGLES
- No. 1: Charlene Goreau (XULA) def. Rachel Bottorff (IWU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-1
- No. 2: Alex Mella (IWU) def. Emma Kranendonk (XULA) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
- No. 3: Brandi Nelson (XULA) def. Lizzie Bauss (IWU) 6-4, 6-2
- No. 4: Lacee Ancar (XULA) def. Marissa Klein (IWU) 6-4, 6-3
- No. 5: Olivia Reed (IWU) def. Yi Chen Pao (XULA) 3-6, 7-5, 6-3
- No. 6: Thewuni Devaraja (IWU) def. Lyndsey Clark (XULA) 6-7 (9-10), 6-4, 6-3
Extra! Extra!
- Indiana Wesleyan advances to the national quarterfinals for only the second time in program history. The 2016 squad was the first to do so.
- The Gold Nuggets defeated the Wildcats 5-4 on February 18 in Lawrenceburg, Georgia.
- IWU improves to 14-17 all-time at the national championship.
COACH SHIGLEY SAYS…
- “It was another five hour match with Xavier but this time we prevailed for a 5-4 win. All the matches were close and hard fought.”
- “No. 1-doubles was down 0-4 and 2-6 but won the last six games to win 8-6. Xavier came out strong in singles and won the first three matches to a take a 4-2 advantage. The three remaining matches were Alex Mella, Olivia Reed, and Tay Devaraja -- all three girls lost their first set. Alex started the comeback with a 6-4 win in the third set. Olivia was actually down 2-5 on the second set where she fought off two match points before winning five straight games to win the second set and then won the third set 6-3. It came down to Tay Devaraja at No. 6-singles. Tay lost a close first set 7-6 and 11-9 in the tiebreaker but she prevailed to win the next two sets.”
- “I am so proud of these girls. Who would have thought that two freshmen and a sophomore could come back in this type of heat and on this type of a stage when the pressure is on. Unbelievable!”
UP NEXT FOR WOMEN’S TENNIS
- Indiana Wesleyan plays in the national quarterfinals for only the second time in program history. IWU plays No. 2-seed Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) at 2 p.m. ET in Mobile, Alabama.
