SAN ANTONIO – No. 15 Trinity University Women's Tennis had its eyes set on an upset Wednesday morning at the Butch Newman Tennis Center as it traded points with No. 1 University of Chicago all the way to the eventual 5-4 final in favor of the visitor.
 
The Tigers (6-3) carried a 2-1 lead out of the early session as both the second and third lines rallied from late deficits and an early 0-1 match margin. Junior Ellie Hughes (Austin, Texas / Vandegrift) and sophomore Brooke Belitz (Scottsdale, Ariz. / Notre Dame) powered through for a 7-4 tiebreaker victory to reclaim momentum early.
 
Junior Cate Cushing (Colleyville, Texas / Heritage) and first-year Trinity Levy (Camarillo, Calif. / Weil Tennis Academy)—the nation's No. 16 duo—stormed back from a 7-4 deficit to force a tiebreak of their own, which was claimed, 7-1, over No. 3 Claudia NG and Perene Wang.
 
After Trinity ceded the first and third lines, 3-2 Chicago, Cushing returned to the book with a straight-sets victory over No. 15 Miranda Yuan, 6-3, 6-3 to knot things back up. Sophomore Olivia Kim (Phoenix, Ariz. / Desert Mountain) recovered from a first-set shutout to force a tiebreak in line two, but fell 8-6.
 
Junior Ella Cummings (Albuquerque, N.M. / Sandia) leveled the match once again, 4-4, after a 6-4, 6-3 output from line six, sending the Tigers to court five to spectate Hughes. The fifth line required extras in both sets as Ng claimed the first 7-5, but Hughes had kept things in play with a slim lead throughout the second, up to 6-5. The junior ultimately fell on a 7-2 tiebreak to cede the match to last year's NCAA III runner-up.
 
No. 15 Trinity Women's Tennis packs its bags for Virginia this weekend as the Tigers visit the campus of No. 21 University of Mary Washington for the Blue-Grey Invitational to battle the host Eagles (Sat.) and No. 22 Washington & Lee University (Sun.).