Women's Tennis | 5/9/2014 6:30:00 PM

ATLANTA, Ga. -- Berry College's Mary Cerny broke a 4-4 tie with a come-from-behind win at No. 2 singles, to lift Berry to a 5-4 victory over Methodist in the first round of the 2014 NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Championships on Friday, hosted by Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
 
The Vikings (18-2) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the match, winning each of the first two doubles contests. Cerny and Lauren Byrket bested Abigail Randolph and Emily Talley, 8-6, at No 2. At No. 3, it was Berry's pairing of Kaleigh Carpenter and Heidi Seabaugh that came away with an 8-3 win over Stephanie Hunter and Sam Munze.  The Monarchs (22-3) avoided a sweep of doubles as Laura Baker and Isabella Graf won, 8-4, over Emma O'Reilly and Caitlin Smith at No. 1.
 
Methodist would tie the match (2-2) with a win at No. 3 singles as Randolph bested  Smith, 6-3, 6-0.  However, the Vikings regained the lead shortly thereafter with a win at No. 6 singles from Seabaugh over Hunter, and Carpenter boosted the Vikings' lead to 4-2 with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Talley at No. 5 singles, putting Berry a match victory away from advancing to the second round.
 
Methodist staved off elimination with a 6-1, 7-5 win from Baker over O'Reilly at No .1 singles, and evened the score at four apiece with a 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 win at No. 4 singles from Munze over Byrket, putting all of the attention on the No. 2 singles match to decide the contest.
 
Graf claimed the first set for Methodist in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (4), Cerny battled back to win the second set 6-4, forcing a match-deciding third set.  After Graf grabbed a 2-1 lead, Cerny won the next four games to take a 5-2 lead in the set.  Graf won the next game, pushing the score to 5-3, but Cerny answered again, reaching match point, before play was halted and moved inside as a storm, which had been threatening throughout the match, moved play indoors.  The move would prove to be for just one point, as Cerny finished off the contest, winning the set 6-3 and clinching the contest for Berry.
 
Berry will advance to the second-round of the NCAA Championships, facing top-ranked and host Emory University at 2:00 PM Saturday at the Woodruff Physical Education Center in Atlanta
Tennis Match Results
 
Berry College vs Methodist University
 
May 09, 2014 at Atlanta, GA
Berry College 5, Methodist University 4
 
Singles competition
1. Baker, Laura (MU) def. O'Reilly, Emma (BERRY) 7-5, 6-1
2. Cerny, Mary (BERRY) def. Graf, Isabella (MU) 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-3
3. Randolph, Abigail (MU) def. Smith, Caitlin (BERRY) 6-1, 6-0
4. Munze, Sam (MU) def. Byrket, Lauren (BERRY) 5-7, 7-5, 6-2
5. Carpenter, Kaleigh (BERRY) def. Talley, Emily (MU) 6-3, 6-0
6. Seabaugh, Heidi (BERRY) def. Hunter, Stephanie (MU) 6-2, 6-2
 
Doubles competition
1. Baker, Laura/Graf, Isabella (MU) def. O'Reilly, Emma/Smith, Caitlin (BERRY) 8-4
2. Cerny, Mary/Byrket, Lauren (BERRY) def. Randolph, Abigail/Talley, Emily (MU) 8-6
3. Carpenter, Kaleigh/Seabaugh, Heidi (BERRY) def. Hunter, Stephanie/Munze, Sam (MU) 8-3
 
Match Notes:
Berry College 18-2
Methodist University 22-3
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (3,6,5,1,4,2)
NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Championships - First Round (hosted by Emory)