ST. LOUIS -- The John Brown University women's tennis squad came from behind to knock off fifth-seeded Missouri Valley in the quarterfinal round before dropping a 5-0 decision to top-seeded William Woods (Mo.) in the semifinals of the NAIA Unaffiliated Group Regional Championships on Wednesday (April 24) at the Dwight Davis Tennis Center.
The Golden Eagles (11-7) had to piece together two separate comebacks, both in doubles and singles action to knock off the Vikings (5-10). With the teams knotted a three apiece, John Brown rode junior Ellie Swan and her third-set triumph to the win.
After falling behind 1-0 in doubles, seniors Lin Xin Tan and Abigail Woodring began the comeback with a 6-4 win at the top spot to tie doubles at one apiece. Then, Swan and junior Erin Kuykendall outlasted Hannah Brown and Laura Moreno, 6-4, to hand JBU the early lead.
Missouri Valley then won three of the first four singles matchups to take a 3-2 lead, with just Kuykendall and Swan at the four and five, respectively, left to complete a come-from-behind effort.
The tandem did just that, with Kuykendall using a 7-2 second-set tiebreak to create momentum in a three-set win over Claudia Casas, 0-6, 7-6, 6-3, which tied the match. Then, after falling behind with a first-set loss, Swan recovered and defeated Tristan Liebenberg, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, in the third set, vaulting the Golden Eagles into the semifinal round.
No. 16 William Woods then ran away with a 5-0 score, ending the Golden Eagles season.
"What a year a record-breaking season for our ladies, and winning our way into the semifinals is a great accomplishment," head coach Mike Campbell noted. "We knew William Wood would be difficult, but I challenged the ladies before the day began to do to do our best, and we did exactly that. What a tremendously successful season for these ladies."
Tan earned All-Conference first team honors, and was joined by Swan who was named to the second team. Seniors Caroline Hillock and Kyla Isaac landed on the All-Conference doubles second team for their efforts this season.
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