St. Louis, MO- Erica Ekstrand and
Yuu Ishikawa swept the competition today at the NCAA DIII individual competition in St. Louis.
The day started off with singles where
Erica Ekstrand fought her way into the Elite 8. With a match time mishap, Ekstrand went straight on court for her first round against Carnegie Mellon. The first set was characterized by many long rallies. While it was very close, Ekstrand proved to be tougher than her opponent edging out the set tiebreaker 12-10. In the second set, Ekstrand found her rhythm and began hitting with more pace, forcing her opponent to make more errors. Ekstrand won with a score of 7-6(10), 6-1 and moved into the Sweet 16 to face the #6 seed from Case Western. Ekstrand managed to carry her momentum from the previous match and got off to a strong start. Despite her opponent playing a crafty game, Ekstrand stuck to her game plan. Through mixing heavy topspin balls with flatter shots and anticipating drop shots, Ekstrand closed out the match 6-3, 6-4. She will face an opponent from Claremont Mudd Scripps tomorrow for a spot in the Final 4.
Erica Ekstrand and
Yuu Ishikawa faced a doubles team from Mary Washington in their first round. Focusing in on getting the first volley, the pair stayed solid on their returns and served to set themselves up. With Ekstrand ripping crosses and Ishikawa hunting for volleys, they appeared unstoppable. With a score of 6-3, 6-2, the pair will face the winner of Babson and Christopher Newport match tomorrow in the Elite 8.
