ITHACA, N.Y. – The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's tennis team delivered a thrilling comeback victory in the Liberty League Semifinals, rallying past St. Lawrence for a 4-3 win at the Reis Tennis Center to advance in the conference tournament.
RPI found itself trailing early after a tightly contested doubles session. The Engineers earned a point at No. 2 doubles behind a strong 6-2 victory from
Kayla Wheeler and
Victoria Sarabosing, but St. Lawrence claimed the other two matches to take a 1-0 lead into singles play.
The Saints extended their advantage at the top of the lineup, winning at No. 1 singles to go ahead 2-0, leaving RPI needing a near-perfect finish across the remaining matches. The Engineers responded with resilience, winning four of the final five singles contests, including three dramatic matches that went the distance.
RPI's comeback began at No. 4 singles, where Sarabosing delivered a key straight-set win, battling through a tight second-set tiebreak to secure the point. The Engineers then turned to the middle and bottom of the lineup, where the match swung decisively in their favor.
At No. 3 singles,
Gauri Muliyil fought through a three-set battle, bouncing back after dropping the second set to claim a 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 victory. Soon after,
Neha Saraswatula added another crucial point at No. 6 singles, overcoming a first-set loss to win 4-6, 6-0, 6-2, tying the overall match.
The deciding point came at No. 2 singles in one of the most dramatic matches of the day. Wheeler battled through a back-and-forth contest, forcing a third set after splitting the opening two before prevailing in a tense super tiebreak, 8-6, to clinch the victory for the Engineers.
The win advances RPI to league championship for the first time in program history, where the Engineers will face Vassar tomorrow at 1:00 pm.
