Women's Tennis 5/27/2022 4:47:00 PM Ted Schultz

Sabrina Tang makes history with first-round singles win at NCAA D-III Tennis Tourney

Results

ORLANDO, Fla. - Already enjoying a stellar campaign, Grinnell College's Sabrina Tang '23 made Pioneer tennis history Friday at the NCAA Division III Singles Tournament at the USTA Campus.

Tang became the first Grinnell player, women or men, to win an opening-round singles match at the NCAA Tourney. The 6-4, 6-2 decision over Haverford College's Abbey Russano sent Tang into the round of 16, where she lost to eighth-seeded Olivia Soffer of Babson College 6-0 in the first set before retiring.

Tang already held the school record for singles wins in a season prior to the tourney and finished the 2021-22 campaign with a 30-6 record. She moved up to ninth for career singles wins at Grinnell with 52.

Tang said there were pre-match nerves, but they never manifested as she served a shutout at Russano in the first set and won eight of the first 10 points for a 2-0 lead.

"I was very nervous, but I knew that I had a solid foundation from practicing all during finals week until today," Tang said late Friday afternoon. "I was having good success with crosscourt forehand and backhand patterns. As long as I got into the point, I knew there was a good chance of winning it."

Russano rallied with three consecutive game victories before the players traded wins, making it 4-3 in favor of the Haverford player. That's when Tang caught fire, recording three straight wins including two games where she broke Russano. In the final game, Tang fought off a game point by Russano to secure the 6-4 set victory.

"I was caught off-guard with her serve and her pace and my serve went off for a bit," Tang explained of Russano taking the lead. "But I got accustomed to both gradually and my serve came back. I also started mixing up the height of my groundstrokes to take her off her rhythm."

Tang carried that momentum into the second set, reeling off four consecutive wins "I think winning the first set gave me the mental edge over my opponent," she said. "I had increased confidence during the points and was able to hit deeper into the corners of the court to force more errors."

Trailing 30-0 in the fifth set, action was halted when Tang injured her foot. "I was chasing down a ball at the net that hit the net cord," Tang explained. "I was trying to run around it and hit a backhand - never run around a forehand!! - and twisted my midfoot."

After receiving medical treatment, Tang responded and delivered four points in a row to take a 5-0 lead in games. "I knew I had to get my momentum back fast or risk dropping the set," she said. "I was glad my serve had improved in that I was able to force errors with my serves without having to run too much. I was a little surprised to be able to win the game after being down 0-30."

Russano then managed two wins before Tang finished things off, giving up just one point in the final game to win the set 6-2. "I felt relieved to be able to win the match with such severely limited mobility," Tang said. "I think having the lead in the set definitely helped. I was ecstatic to fulfill my goal of winning a match at the NCAA championships!"

Tang then matched up against a strong player in Soffer, and her task got even taller with the injury. "I iced and taped the foot between the matches, but walking was difficult and I could not put enough pressure on the foot to run," Tang said. "I would have liked to see what would have happened if playing at my full ability. It was worth it to try playing, and I had a lot of fun just being on the stadium court, but the foot was not improving and I didn't want it to get worse."

Though her run ended in the round of 16, Tang took away great memories from her experience. "It means a lot to me to be the first GC player to win a singles match at nationals," she said. "I've been inspired by the Grinnell tennis players before me that made it here and I'm proud to continue their legacy. I hope Grinnell tennis players in the future will be able to look at my achievements and aim even higher."

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Players Mentioned

Sabrina Tang: Junior

Players Mentioned

Sabrina Tang
: Junior