Grinnell 5, UW-Whitewater 3

WHITEWATER, Wis. - In its 48-year history, the Grinnell College women's tennis team has nearly done it all.
 
One task left on the to-do-list, though, was advancing to the NCAA Division III Regional championship round.
 
But 35^th-ranked Grinnell checked that task off the list Friday, and broke the school record for wins in a season, by toppling No. 36 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 5-3 in the semifinals on the latter's court. It marked the second win for Grinnell against UW-Whitewater this season after losing to the Warhawks earlier.
 
The win pushed Grinnell to 21-6 on the season, breaking the school record of 20 wins established on a few other occasions. UW-Whitewater finishes its season at 20-5.
 
Grinnell had advanced to the Regional semifinals four times before, but never gone any further than that until Friday.
 
The Pioneers got key victories at Nos. 1 and 3 doubles to open the match. Erin Jarvis '25 and Lily Perrin '25 teamed up for an 8-7 (7-5) nail-biter win at No. 3 while Sabrina Tang '23 and Ioanna Giannakou '24, ranked 15^th regionally, pulled an upset of sorts by rolling to an 8-6 win over the region's No. 11 team at No. 1 doubles. Despite the rankings, Tang and Giannakou had already beaten the UW-Whitewater pair last month.
 
Giannakou pushed Grinnell to a 3-1 lead with a 6-0, 6-0 shutout win at No. 4 singles. Wins at Nos. 3 and 2 singles by UW-Whitewater quickly knotted the match at 3-all, but then the Pioneers turned it on. Tang, the nation's No. 12 player, defeated the No. 40 player 6-3, 6-1 at No. 1 singles and Perrin finished off the victory with a 6-4, 6-3 decision at No. 6.
 
Tang, who set the school record for singles wins in a season Thursday, added to that Friday with her 29^th. Jarvis won her 25^th doubles match of the season, third-best in program history, while Giannakou's 22^nd doubles wins ranks ninth all-time. Perrin now has 20 doubles wins, good for 23^rd all-time.
 
Tang boosted her career singles wins total to 51, which ranks 10^th in program history.
 
Grinnell will take on either top-ranked University of Chicago or Carleton College for the regional crown Saturday, beginning at 11 a.m.