LEXINGTON, Va. – The 24
th-ranked Denison women's tennis team secured five straight victories on Saturday morning as the Big Red defeated York College (Pa.), 5-0, in the second round of the NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Tournament at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. This is Denison's first national tournament win since 2016 when the Big Red defeated Concordia (Wis.) in the opening round. This will also be their first trip to the third round since 2011.
Opening their dominant play on the doubles courts, the Big Red earned their first victory of the day in No. 1 doubles when the nation's 19
th-ranked duo of
Alex Cash and
Hannah Cianciola posted eight-straight wins over Michaela Sentz and Lauren Ostermann to sweep the Spartan tandem, 8-0.
The Big Red's second win of the day came in the third flight when
Monique Brual and
Kendall Schrader handed an 8-1 defeat to Kelsey Sheets and Morrissey Walsh. Denison finished a clean sweep of doubles in No. 2 doubles following an 8-1 win from
Sarah Robertson and
Sydney Cianciola over YC's Chloe Doyle and Brianna Rohrer.
Needing only two more wins entering singles play, the Big Red jumped out early on the singles courts when
Monique Brual swept Walsh on the No. 5 court in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0, to put DU in front, 4-0. Not long after Brual's victory, Cash closed out the match with a 6-0, 6-0 sweep of Ostermann in No. 2 singles, giving Denison their eighth win of the season and their first trip to the NCAA third round in 10 years.
Denison will return to the W&L courts in Lexington, Virginia on Sunday, May 16 for the third round of the 2021 NCAA Division III Championship. The Big Red will face off against tournament-host No. 18 Washington and Lee at 12 p.m. on Sunday. Washington and Lee will continue to offer
live results of Sunday's third round.
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