The No. 9 WashU women’s tennis team hosted Grinnell College and Kenyon College in the opening weekend of the NCAA tournament on May 10 and 11. With two dominant wins, the Bears advanced to the Elite 8 and the NCAA Division III championship weekend for the second consecutive season. 

After earning a first-round bye for their strong regular season, WashU opened their tournament in the Round of 32 against Grinnell. The Bears did not concede a point to the Pioneers throughout the match. They won the first doubles match with a 6-1 performance by junior Eliana Hanna and first-year Ally Lin. 

The No. 1 doubles partnership of sophomore Eleanor Archer and first-year Caitlin Bui clinched the doubles point for the Bears. On the singles court, Archer allowed her opponent to win just two games, while junior Nina Moravek dominated her opponent in the No. 6 game. The Bears punched their ticket to the Sweet 16 with a win on the No. 4 court, with Lin similarly only allowing her opponents to just two game wins. 

The Sweet 16 match against Kenyon was closer, but WashU still managed to prevent the Owls from recording a single match point. 

On the doubles courts, the partnerships of Archer and Bui won their set 6-4, while Lin and Hanna won their doubles match 6-3 to clinch the doubles points. Though WashU didn’t sweep Kenyon in straight sets, they still dominated gameplay: Hanna and Lin easily won their singles matches, while Bui prevailed in a tightly contested match to secure WashU’s berth to the championship weekend. 

With the wins this weekend, the Bears shut out their opponents for the 13th time out of their 15 season wins. The Bears are catching fire at the right time, having won shutout victories in seven of their last nine games. 

However, the only two WashU losses in that timespan were against No. 1 The University of Chicago. In the opening match of championship weekend, WashU will face UChicago for the third time this year. When WashU faced the Maroons for the first time in 2025, on April 12, Chicago dominated play and held the Bears to just a single point. At the UAA Championships, the Bears held their own against the Maroons, but still fell short, 4-3. In their third matchup, WashU has the opportunity to finally beat their top-ranked rivals.

The Bears will travel to Claremont, California, for the NCAA championship, and will face UChicago on Tuesday, May 20.