Richardson, Texas, May 15, 2021 — The Washington University in St. Louis women's tennis team ended its team season with a 5-1 loss to Southwestern (Texas) in the third round of the NCAA Division III Tournament Saturday at the UT-Dallas Tennis Courts.

The Bears fell in a 3-0 hole after a closely contested doubles competition and couldn't recover in singles. Junior Hannah Johnston picked up WashU's only victory with a 6-4, 6-1 win at the No. 6 spot. 

"I am so proud of how the Bears battled today and all season together as one team, supporting each other and competing hard with integrity," said WashU head coach Paige Madara. "Even after a tough doubles start, we fought hard in singles and forged a comeback. We had a great run this spring and are so grateful we had the opportunity to compete and advance to the NCAA Sweet 16."

Senior Ally Persky and first year Karen Gao fell 8-6 at No. 1 doubles while senior Laurel Wanger and first year Katherine Johnston fell 8-6 at No. 2 and senior Emma Sass and junior Divya Sharma fell 8-3 at No. 3. In singles play, Persky fell 6-4, 6-3 at No. 1 and Sharma fell 6-0, 6-3 at No. 3 while the remaining matches went unfinished. 

WashU completes its first season under Madara with a 9-4 overall record. Although the team season is complete for the Bears, WashU will still send two individuals to compete in the NCAA Individual Championships May 28-30 in Chattanooga, Tenn. Persky will compete in the singles draw and will also pair with Gao in the doubles competition.

The match marked the final career matches for Wanger and Sass. Both student-athletes had successful senior seasons as Wanger finished the season at 9-3 in singles play and 8-5 in doubles action while Sass went 3-0 in singles and 5-6 in doubles play. Wanger wrapped up her WashU career with 54 total wins while Sass tallied 14.