Meghan Damico topped Grace Baljon at No. 1 singles but it wasn't enough as Williams squeaked by the Big Red, 5-4.

With the match tied 4-4, Williams College junior Nicole Reich took a second-set tiebreaker 7-4 from Denison junior Marta Drane (Wilmington, Del./Tower Hill) and held on in the decisive third set to clinch a 5-4 decision for the Ephs in the Quarterfinals of the 2009 NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Championship from the Collins Hill Athletic Club.

Denison trailed 2-1 heading into singles play after getting a critical 9-7 win from freshman Erin Chadwell (Chicago, Ill./Traverse City Central) and junior Kara Zdanowski (Ann arbor, Mich./Pioneer) at No. 3 doubles.  With the match tied 5-5 Denison fought through the tiebreaker to earn the 9-7 win, giving the Big Red a fighting chance heading into singles.

The Ephs notched the first win in singles play when Kristin Alotta topped Chadwell 6-4, 6-3.  Denison countered with two impressive wins from Meghan Damico (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) and Kristin Cobb (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood) at first and second singles.  Damico topped the Northeast region's No. 2 ranked player, Grace Baljon, 6-0, 7-6 (9-7) and Cobb followed with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Gibson at No. 2 singles.

With the match tied 3-3, the tide appeared to turn in the Big Red's favor when Zdanowski dropped Annie Hancock, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5, giving DU a 4-3 lead with two matches left to be decided on the court.

At No. 5 singles, Denison senior Kendra Murray (Kirkwood, Mo./Kirkwood) was taking on junior Lucy Marchese, and at No. 3 singles, Drane was locked in a slug-fest with Gibson.  Murray took a 1-0 lead after winning the first set 6-3.  In the second set Marchese followed with a 6-4 victory and kept the hot hand in the third, eventually defeating Murray 6-1.

Now tied 4-4, all eyes were on the Drane-Reich match on court No. 3.  The first set went to Drane 6-4 but a pivotal tiebreaker win for Reich in the second set gave the Eph's new life and they would capitalize with a 6-4 win in the third set to claim the match.

Williams (19-2), the defending NCAA Division III Champions, will advance to the semifinals where they will take on Emory University who topped Pomona-Pitzer 5-1 in their quarterfinal match.  Denison's season comes to an end with a 16-7 record.  This was their third straight trip to the NCAA Quarterfinals and the fifth time DU had advanced to the NCAA's Elite 8 out of the last six seasons.  Last year's third-place finish was the best in program history.

Damico, Drane and Cobb will remain in Georgia to compete in the NCAA Singles and Doubles championship tournaments this weekend.  Drane and Cobb were NCAA runner-up doubles pair in 2008.

Williams 5, Denison 4