The UChicago women’s tennis team are facing off down in Altamonte Springs, FL this weekend for the UAA championships. The No. 9 Maroons are the No. 2 seed for the weekend and boast a perfect 5–0 record against UAA competition thus far.
The Maroons (14–3) are coming off a big weekend in which they beat Wash U for the third time this season. They’re looking to continue their strong success against UAA teams in hopes of securing a UAA championship.
Last year the Maroons took third place in the UAA championships after falling to Emory in the semifinals. The Maroons are eager to get another chance at Emory which was ranked No. 1 at the time of play last season. Emory comes into the championship again ranked No. 1 nationally and is seeking its fifth consecutive UAA title.
The UAA championship should be stocked full of competition as all eight of the UAA teams are ranked in the top 40 nationally. Emory is ranked No. 1 nationally and closely following are No. 9 Chicago, No. 10 Wash U, and No. 11 Carnegie Mellon. Also ranked are Case Western at 18, Brandeis at 19, NYU at 31, and Rochester at 37.
The Maroons haven’t placed higher than third place since the 2011–12 season, when the Maroons took home the UAA championship. The first match for Chicago featured a match up against NYU on Thursday. NYU was 1–1 against UAA completion thus far this season and took home seventh place at the UAA championship last season.
The first match of the weekend fell in favor of Chicago, topping NYU 7–2. The squad will look to continue its hot start in the championship weekend as it moves on to face off against the three-seeded Wash U (10–8) who beat sixth-seeded Brandeis 7–2. NYU will drop to the consolation bracket and focus on taking home fifth place.
Wash U took second place in the championship last year after losing to Emory 7–2. The winner of this four-team bracket will play whichever team comes out of the other side in the championship game, which will likely be the No. 1 seeded Emory.
Fourth-year Tiffany Chen is excited for her last UAA championship. She believes that the team is gelling particularly well and is ready to take on the tough competition this weekend. “It's the first time we're seeded second in my career, so I'm excited to finally have a good shot at the finals,” said Chen. “Last weekend was pretty good for us in terms of proving our grit against UW–W and Wash U, so I think we're looking strong as a team.”
The Maroons are eager to take on Wash U for the fourth time this season, especially with the gravity that comes with this final matchup of the season.
The Maroons will continue competition at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, FL on Friday at 2 p.m. against Wash U and will finish off the weekend at 9 a.m. on Saturday.
