GW Women's Tennis Advances to A-10 Semifinal

Taylor Nederlander clinched GW's quarterfinal victory on Friday.

Colonials Upset Second-Seeded Massachusetts in Friday Thriller

Box Score
CINCINNATI, Ohio  (April 22nd, 2016) - The seventh-seeded George Washington women's tennis squad upset second-seeded Massachusetts in a thrilling, 4-3, victory in the quarterfinal round of the Atlantic 10 Championship on Friday afternoon at the indoor Camargo Racquet Club.

The Colonials will now face third-seeded Davidson in the semifinal on Saturday afternoon.

The Buff and Blue grabbed an exciting doubles point to start the day as the top duo of juniors Taylor Nederlander and Allison Hansen claimed a 6-1 victory. Massachusetts then won the second-flight match 6-3 to even the slate.

Sophomore Teodora Radosavljevic and senior Egle Jakuciunaite battled to take a 6-4 triumph at the
No. 3 position to clinch an early 1-0 lead for the Colonials.

"I told the team heading into today to go out and play with no fear," said interim head coach Torrie Browning. "I don't care what they're seeded or what we're seeded, going into conference play everyone is 0-0 and anything is possible.

"That doubles point again was crucial, it was great to get out there and start with good energy and it just rolled into the singles and put pressure on UMass. It was just an amazing effort by our players today."

In the singles portion, UMass tied the match at 1-1 with a straight-set victory at the No. 5 position before all five remaining matches went to three sets.

The Minutewomen came back from a first-set deficit to win in third-flight play and take a 2-1 lead, but Radosavljevic fought to tie the score.

After dropping the first set at the top spot, Radosavljevic claimed the second set, 6-2, to push the match to a third. After being down 1-5 in the deciding frame, the sophomore battled back to take the match to a third-set tie break, where Radosavljevic claimed a dominating, 7-1, victory to knot the match at 2-2.


Massachusetts followed with a three-set win at No. 6 to regain the lead, 3-2.

In second-flight action, Sara Grubac won her first set and nearly took the second but ultimately fell in a tie break, 10-8, to head to a third. Grubac solidified her win with a 6-1 rout of her UMass opponent to once again tie the score.

With all eyes at No. 4, Nederlander came back from a one-set deficit to take the second, 6-3. In the third set, Nederlander completed the comeback with a thrilling, 7-5, victory to clinch the upset for the Colonials, 4-3.

"I'm just going to say that they wanted it today," said Browning. "This season has had a lot of ups and downs but I told them, if you want it, you can have it, but you have to go out there and take it and that's exactly what they did."

The Colonials (8-13, 4-4 A-10) will face third-seeded Davidson (17-4, 8-0 A-10) on Saturday in the semifinal round at 1:30 p.m. at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio. Earlier this season, the Wildcats downed the Colonials in a close, 5-2, match.

"I think today really does build momentum for tomorrow," said Browning. "It just proves that it doesn't matter who we play or what we've been through, anything in conference tournament play is possible. I'm happy to have Merrit [Johnson] and Dominika [Kanakova] on the staff; they have helped so much with everything. I just give all the credit to the team today."

George Washington 4, Massachusetts 3
Doubles
1. Allison Hansen/Taylor Nederlander (GW) def. Ana Yrazusta/Carol Benito (UM), 6-1
2. Ruth Crawford/Anna Woosley (UM) def. Sara Grubac/Marie-Louise DeCamps (GW), 6-3
3. Teodora Radosavljevic/Egle Jakuciunaite (GW) def. Laura Moreno/Arielle Griffin (UM), 6-4
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3

Singles
1. Teodora Radosavljevic (GW) def. Ruth Crawford (UM), 0-6, 6-2, 7-6(1)
2. Sara Grubac (GW) def. Ana Yrazusta (UM), 6-2, 6-7(8), 6-1
3. Arielle Griffin (UM) def. Marie-Louise Decamps (GW), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
4. Taylor Nederlander (GW) def. Anna Woosley (UM), 3-6, 6-3, 7-5
5. Carol Benito (UM) def. Allison Hansen (GW), 6-2, 6-1
6. Brittany Collens (UM) def. Egle Jakuciunaite (GW), 6-3, 2-6, 6-2
Order of Finish: 5, 3, 1, 6, 2, 4