It was a mixed weekend for the Washington University women’s tennis team, who traveled to Murfreesboro, Tenn. to compete in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Team Indoor Championships. Wash. U. finished fourth, winning a close opening matchup against Carnegie Mellon University, before dropping its semifinal matchup to Emory University and the third place final to the University of Chicago.

The Bears started the weekend with a tightly contested 5-4 victory over Carnegie Mellon. “We’re ranked 11; they’re ranked 12. We always have tough battles,” head coach Kelly Stahlhuth said. “That was another battle.”

Senior Rebecca Ho goes low for a backhand in a match last year. Ho helped the women’s tennis team take fourth at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships this past weekend.

Wash. U. took the upper hand early, sweeping the doubles matches. With only two wins to go until a team victory, senior Rebecca Ho and sophomore Lisa Chionis provided the final blows at first and fifth singles, respectively.

Ho continued her dominant start to the spring season with a 6-1, 6-1 win. Chionis, meanwhile, snapped her two-match singles losing streak with a smooth 6-0, 6-3 victory.

“Some days, it’s one person; some days it’s another,” Stahlhuth said, referring to key performances from her team.

The Tartans managed to snag the other four singles matches to push the score to a 5-4 final in favor of the Bears.

If Carnegie Mellon was a tough matchup for the Bears, the next day’s opponent, Emory University, the number one ranked team in the nation, was an even taller order. Against the Eagles, Wash. U. never found its rhythm and lost decisively, 8-1.

In doubles, the Bears’ fortunes reversed completely from the day before, and they were in a 3-0 hole heading into singles play. The marquee matchup of the day was Ho’s tilt at the number one singles spot. Ho, the fourth ranked player in the country, came up against Bridget Harding, the top-ranked player in Division III. In one of the few bright spots for the Bears on the day, Ho won in three sets, 5-7, 6-2, 6-3.

Ho’s hot streak has been one of the highlights of the Bears’ season so far, with the senior posting a 15-1 spring record to date and moving into sole possession of second place on the program’s all-time wins list with 161. Ho now stands 22 wins away from the school’s all-time record, currently held by Debbie Michelson (’92).

The semifinal loss to Emory brought the Bears to a third-place match against the University of Chicago on Sunday morning. The Bears pulled out two tight victories in doubles: a 9-7 win by Ho and senior Kaylan Griffith at first doubles and and a 10-8 victory by senior Mindy Borovsky and freshman Sanjana Tripathy at third doubles.

“We were down in two doubles matches, and in two of them, we ended up pulling it back,” Stahlhuth said.

The 2-1 lead after doubles play, however, quickly turned into a 5-2 loss. Every singles player for Wash. U. dropped her matchup, with the exceptions of Ho and Tripathy, whose matches went unfinished.

“Chicago is tough in singles,” Stahlhuth said.

Wash. U.’s 1-2 weekend brings their overall record to 3-4. The Bears have had to contend with stiff competition in their first few weeks of the season, with all but one of their seven games coming against nationally ranked opponents.

Things won’t get any easier next week. In a spring break trip to California, they’ll face No. 7 Amherst College, No. 8 Wesleyan University and No. 4 Bowdoin in three straight days.

“We have a really tough, jam-packed schedule,” Stahlhuth said. “Hopefully, all the experience in pressure situations will help us out in April.”