Campus News
June 7, 2010
Emory tennis players soar at nationals
John Farina is sports information director.
The Emory men’s and women’s tennis teams maintained their reputations as premier Division III programs this spring and posted a total of three runner-up performances at the NCAA Championships.
The men’s team, under the guidance of head coach John Browning, advanced to the quarterfinal round of the national tournament for the 19th consecutive season while women’s head coach Amy Bryant saw her unit battle its way into the finals, the eighth time in the past 10 years the Eagles had flown into the semifinals or championship contest.
After the men’s squad was eliminated from the team championship, sophomores Chris Goodwin and Dillon Pottish participated in the singles portion of the event that featured 32 players vying to take home the individual crown. Goodwin was aiming to repeat his older brother Michael’s championship performance in 2009, while Pottish was making his first appearance following his transfer from the University of Portland where he played during the 2008-09 season. Pottish would win his opening two matches before falling in the quarterfinals. Goodwin rolled into the finals where he saw his attempt to place another championship trophy on the family mantle in Rockville, Md., come up short as he was topped by ITA Senior Player of the Year John Watts.
The women’s team opened NCAA tourney play with second-and third-round victories at the Woodruff PE Center against Methodist University and Washington & Lee, respectively, sending the Eagles to the quarterfinals for the 21st time since 1985.
Standing in the way of Emory advancing was the Big Red of Denison University. However, the Eagles rose to the challenge with a 5-2 victory, setting up a highly-anticipated contest against top-seed Amherst College. With a berth in the finals at stakes, Emory upended the Lord Jeffs in a scintillating affair, 5-4, with the deciding point of the match coming on the racquet of junior Lindsay Reidenbach at No. 5 singles. The following day, Emory saw it quest for the program’s sixth national crown denied when it lost to Williams, ending the team’s year at 22-6.
Junior Lorne McManigle and sophomore Zahra Dawson then competed in both the singles and doubles competitions with each winning their first-round singles match before being halted in the round of 16. The pair then joined forces in the 16-team doubles field and made an impressive run to the finals, where they eventually fell short to defending champions Kendra Higgins and Chrissy Hu of the University of Chicago.
