Senior Alisha White Clinches Victory For Shorewomen

Lancaster, Pa. – The No. 5 seeded Washington College Shorewomen edged the No. 4 seeded Franklin and Marshall Diplomats, 5-4, and advanced to the 2022 Centennial Conference Women's Tennis semifinals for the first time since 2018. The Shorewomen (12-6) will take on top-seeded and No. 23-ranked Johns Hopkins on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. 

How It Happened
The visitors, ranked #18 in the Atlantic South Region, won all three doubles matches to open the match and then won at No. 1 and No. 2 singles to secure the win. The score was even at 4-4 before senior Alisha White pulled out a three-set win at No. 2 singles to clinch the match.

Doubles
- White and Maria Diaz-Nazario gave the Shorewomen their first point at No. 2 doubles as they downed Mackenzie Sherman and Jenna Harrison, 8-3.
- Junior Bin Nguyen and sophomore Katie Ruppert made it 2-0 on the No. 2 court after taking care of Caroline Ulrich and Kayley Burke, 8-3.
- Junior Irene Meng and sophomore Piper Sartison made it a clean sweep with an 8-3 triumph over Cassidy Landau and Sammi Perry at the No. 1 spot.

Singles
- Meng gave Washington a 4-0 lead after defeating Landau at No. 1 singles, 6-0, 5-7, 6-0.
- F&M (7-8, No. 18 in region) got on the board at the No. 4 slot as Clara March Okuyama upended Sartison, 6-4, 6-1.
- Ruppert dropped a three-set decision on the No. 6 court against Sherman, 6-4, 4-6, 0-6.
- The Diplomats cut the deficit to 4-3 after Diaz-Nazario fell to Harrison at No. 3 singles. She dropped the first set 2-6 and then lost the second set, 6-7, in a tiebreaker (5-7). 
- The hosts came all the way back to even the match at 4-4 after Nguyen lost in straight sets (4-6, 4-6) to Bidwell at the No. 5 spot.
- White came up clutch in three sets to give the Shorewomen the clinching victory at No. 2 singles. After dropping the first set in a tiebreaker, she recovered to knock-off Perry, 6-3, 6-1 in the final two sets.

Notes
-F&M defeated the Shorewomen by a 6-3 margin on March 26th in Chestertown.
-Meng is ranked No. 23 in the region in singles.

Quote For Acting Head Coach Michael Herman
"This match was as close as they come. Luckily for us we started off great in doubles. Everyone fought so hard, and, in the end, we had two of our most experienced singles, our co-captains pull out tough 3 sets wins. F&M pushed us to our limits. What a great moment for our senior Alisha White! She has done everything the right way her whole career and she really stepped up big for us with a lot of pressure on the line. We are excited for our rematch with Johns Hopkins on Saturday."

Up Next
-The Shorewomen will travel to #24 Johns Hopkins (#8 region) for the Centennial Semifinals on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.. 

Washington College 5, Franklin and Marshall 4
May 04, 2022 at Lancaster, Pa. (F&M Tennis Center)