CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Savannah Broadus is heading to the NCAA Singles Championships.
The Pepperdine women's tennis senior trailed 5-3 in the third set, yet battled all the way back to beat Old Dominion's #37 Sofia Johnson 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 in the round of 16 at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American Championships on Friday.
With the win, she earned one of eight at-large NCAA singles berths awarded to the ITA All-American quarterfinalists, making her the fourth player under head coach Per Nilsson to qualify for the NCAA singles championship at least three times.
The road to the NCAA Singles Championships was a slightly unexpected one. Both of Broadus' matches on Friday were moved indoors at the University of North Carolina's Chewning Tennis Center due to weather conditions throughout the state. After extensive delays, Broadus finally took the court for her first indoor match against a ranked opponent this fall.
Broadus controlled the first set against Johnson. In a battle between the reigning West Coast Conference and Sun Belt Conference players of the year, the WCC won out as Broadus went up a break early when the ODU senior netted a backhand return. Broadus went on to consolidate the break en route to winning the first five games of the set before Johnson got on the board.
After taking the first set 6-1, Broadus went up a break again by winning all four points in the opening game and consolidating the break in the second. However, Johnson won her first break point of the match to tie the match at 2-2 before both players traded breaks to put the match back on serve. With Broadus trailing 5-4 on deuce point, Johnson broke Broadus, evening the score with her 6-4 second-set win.
In the winner-take-all third set, the match was played on serve for the first four games before Broadus broke Johnson with a pair of backhands in the ad-corner that Johnson returned wide. Yet Johnson broke back on deuce point to put the match back on serve. With Johnson taking a 5-3 lead, the match appeared to be another upset in an upset-laden ITA All-American Championships.
But Broadus answered the call.
She broke Johnson by working the Old Dominion senior along the baseline with a slew of backhands before Johnson shanked a return long. In the tenth game, Broadus held serve to tie the score at five games all, then she broke Johnson on a lob that Johnson tried unsuccessfully to track down in the ad-side corner.
Serving in the final game up 6-5, Broadus won the first three points to put Johnson's upset bid on thin ice. Although Johnson saved two match points, Broadus won a six-hit rally on match point to punch her ticket to the quarterfinals.
Broadus' win over Johnson was her first three-set win since beating Oklahoma State's Ange Obe Kajuru — coincidentally, the highest remaining seed in the tournament — indoors in Stillwater on Feb. 3. It was also her 106th career singles win.
Later on Friday in the quarterfinals, Broadus spotted Wisconsin's Maria Sholokhova four games in the first set before rattling off five-straight games to get back in the match. Broadus went on to break Sholokhova in the 12th game to set up her first tiebreaker of the fall season. However, Sholokhova took advantage of a double fault, won the first three points of the breaker, and won the first set 7-6 (1). Sholokhova, who upset the nation's top singles player Mary Stoiana of Texas A&M earlier in the tournament, went on to upset Broadus 7-6 (1), 6-1.
RESULTS
Singles Round of 16
#8 Savannah Broadus (PEPP) def. #37 Sofia Johnson (ODU), 6-1, 4-6, 7-5
Singles Quarterfinals
#44 Maria Sholokova (WISC) def. #8
Savannah Broadus (PEPP), 7-6 (1), 6-1
