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KALAMAZOO, Michigan – University of Mary Hardin-Baylor women's tennis player
Brittni Fausett made history on the first day of the NCAA Division III Individual National Championships by winning her opening match. But she was eliminated from the tournament with a Second Round loss on Thursday.
Fausett, a senior from Cameron Yoe High School, fell to #3 overall seed and defending National Champion Gabrielle Clark of Emory University in the Round of 16 on Thursday. Clark posted a 6-4, 6-3 victory to end Fausett's season. The first set was a see-saw affair before Clark pulled away late. The two players then traded service games in the second set and were tied 3-3 before Clark managed to break and then rode that momentum to the straight set victory. Thursday's matches were moved indoors and Fausett's matches were delayed almost two hours because of rain in the area.
“It was so exciting to play here,” Fausett said following the match. “If we had played outdoors, I would have played on some of the same courts I played on my freshman year. So it was great to finish it up like this.”
Fausett opened the tournament with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Skidmore College's Nataly Mendoza in Thursday's opening round. Fausett breezed through the first set and opened up a quick 4-2 lead in the second before Mendoza battled back to tie the match at 5-5. Fausett then won the last two games to close out the victory.
Fausett finishes the year at 23-3 in singles play on the year with the victory and she became the first UMHB tennis player to win an NCAA postseason match in the process. She also finished third in singles in the ITA Small College National Championships in the fall and won the ITA Southwest Regional and American Southwest Conference Flight “A” singles titles this school year. Fausett was the first UMHB singles player to advance to the NCAA Individual Tournament and joins the doubles team of Mallory and
Megan Aarhus as the only players in Cru tennis history to compete in the NCAA postseason.
