Denison locked up their third straight NCAAA Quarterfinal berth on Sunday with a 5-1 win over Mary Washington.

For the third straight year and the fifth time out of the last six seasons, the Denison Big Red women's tennis team has advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals following a 5-1 victory over 11th ranked Mary Washington on Sunday from the Denison University Tennis Courts.  DU will square off against second-ranked Williams in the Elite 8 on May 19 in Lawrenceville, Ga.

After falling 8-3 in No. 3 doubles to fall into an early 1-0 hole the Big Red needed a big boost from first and second doubles flights. The team of Marta Drane (Wilmington, Del./Tower Hill) and Kristin Cobb (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood) battled back from a 2-1 deficit to win three straight points and take a 4-2 advantage. After Mary Washington's Becky Morse-Karzen and Kate Malpeli trimmed the deficit to 4-3, Drane and Cobb rattled off another three consecutive points to increase their lead to 7-3. The Denison duo closed out the match by breaking the Eagles serve en route to an 8-4 win that tied the match score at 1-1.

There was a stiff battle at second doubles between DU's senior tandem of Meghan Damico (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) and Kendra Murray (Kirkwood, Mo./Kirkwood) and the Mary Washington team of Courtney Goimarac and Katie Schafer. The Big Red won the first three points to take the early 3-0 lead.  With the score in favor of the Big Red, 5-2, the Eagles would captured five of the next six points to take a 7-6 lead on the senior co-captains.

In danger of going down 2-1, Damico and Murray broke their opponent's serve to knot the match at 7-all. Denison then won the ensuing point to take an 8-7 advantage. Sitting on the third deuce, Murray lined a shot that just stayed inside the line to give the Big Red the advantage. The seniors broke their second-consecutive serve after Mary Washington double faulted into the net. The victory gave DU a 2-1 lead heading into singles action.

Junior Kara Zdanowski (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) got the Big Red rolling in singles play with a convincing 6-1, 6-0 victory over Michelle Meadows at No. 6 singles. Zdanowski won 11 consecutive points in her straight-set win.

After their intense battle at No. 2 doubles, Damico and Murray returned in singles action to help close out the Denison victory. At the first flight, Damico was locked in another epic struggle with Mary Washington's Becky Morse-Karzen. After dropping the first two points, Damico was finally able to score to cut the margin to one. However, the Eagles' No. 1 rattled off back-to-back points to open up a three-point lead. The Pittsburgh, Pa. native responded by ripping off four-consecutive tallies to take her first lead of the set at 5-4. With the score at 5-5, both competitors broke each others' serve to force a tiebreaker situation. Damico capped off her impressive comeback with a 7-3 win in the tiebreaker to take a one set lead in the match. The senior found new life in the second set as she posted a dominating 6-2 win, giving Denison a 4-1 advantage.

Murray and Amy Sheetz also had a battle at No. 5 singles. Trailing 4-2, Murray dug down deep and won back-to-back points to tie the score at 4-4. After falling down 5-4, Murray won the final three points to earn a 7-5 victory in the opening set. After going down 2-1 in the second set, the Kirkwood, Mo. native rallied to take a 3-2 advantage. However, Sheetz responded with a point to tie the set at 3-3. Like she did in the previous set, Murray scored three-consecutive points to secure the straight-set victory and lock up the regional title for the Big Red.

Denison and their quarterfinal opponent, Williams College, have played once in 2009 with the Ephs coming away with a 5-2 victory on March 27 in Decatur, Ga.  Williams, the defending NCAA Champion, is currently ranked second in the latest ITA/Division III Top-30 poll.

View Results [htm]