NICHOLASVILLE, Kent. – Brandeis University women's tennis sophomore Ana Hatfield (Rockford, Ill./Boylan Central Catholic) had a terrific opening day for the 10th-ranked Judges at the 2020 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division III Indoor Championships. Despite the team's 8-1 defeat to #3-ranked Emory, Hatfield picked up a nice singles win and nearly had a doubles victory as well.
In doubles action, the Eagles, who reached the semifinals of the NCAA Division III tournament last year, won the first two matches, handily, 8-0, at #2 and #3. Hatfield and junior Lauren Bertsch (Middletown, R.I./LaSalle Academy) stayed on serve with Emory's top doubles squad to reach a tiebreaker. The final game was also tight, but EU emerged with a 10-8 victory to take the 3-0 lead.
In singles action, Emory won five of the six matches, but Hatfield played the Eagles' Defne Olcay, ranked 26th in Division III at #2 and gave her a fight. Hatfield dropped the opening set, 6-2, but bounced back with a late break of serve to win the second, 6-4. In the super tiebreaker to decide the third set, Hatfield jumped out to a 5-1 lead at the changeover and rolled to a 10-3 victory to avert the sweep.
Brandeis (0-3) will meet either MIT or Pomona-Pitzer tomorrow at 9 a.m. in the consolation semifinals of the tournament. Emory will take on the winner of that match in the championship semifinals.