MOBILE, Ala.— In a battle of the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds at the NAIA National Championship, the underdog Montreat women's tennis team knocked off the Indiana Wesleyan University Wildcats to advance to the semifinal round of the national tournament. With a 4-1 scoreline, the Cavaliers collected their 14^th consecutive victory and improved to 17-5 on the season.
 
Using momentum gained from the first nationals win in program history, Montreat tallied an early edge thanks to break points in doubles action. The Cavaliers stormed out of the gates to lead after Valerie Quiceno Ibarguen and Nicole Bueno notched a 6-3 win versus the 22^nd ranked pairing at No. 3. Stephanie Petit and Carol Reis clinched the doubles point in the Cavs' favor with a triumph by the same scoreline in the top slot, while Mariam Bayatyan and Vaishnavi Venkatesh led 5-3 with a match point against the No. 12-ranked doubles pair in the NAIA at No. 2 when the 1-0 lead occurred.
 
In singles play, the Cavaliers utilized straight-sets wins to close out the match. Petit cruised to a 6-1 victory in her second set at No. 1 following a close come-from-behind 6-4 triumph over No. 8 Maddie Bemisderfer in the initial frame to put Montreat up 2-0. At No. 2, Quiceno Ibarguen dropped just four games as she pulled the Cavs within a point of clinching the contest with a dominant 6-1, 6-3 win over her opposition, the No. 28 player in the nation.
 
Though Indiana Wesleyan (39-6) recorded a point with a win at No. 3, Bayatyan earned a hard-fought two-set victory in the sixth spot to send the Cavaliers to the next round of the tournament. Bayatyan defeated her opponent 6-2, 6-3 to clinch the match in just under three hours as the Cavs avenged their 4-2 regular-season defeat to the Wildcats.
 
Women's tennis now faces the No. 1 seed and reigning five-time national champions, Georgia Gwinnett College, with a trip to the national championship match on the line. First serve of doubles competition is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at the Mobile Tennis Center.
 
No. 5 Montreat College 4, No. 4 Indiana Wesleyan University 1
Doubles competition:
1. Stephanie Petit/Carol Reis (MONT) def. #2 Maddie Bemisderfer/Lena Golz (IWU) 6-3
2. #12 Thais Mendez/Melanie Dveksler (IWU) vs. Vaishnavi Venkatesh/Mariam Bayatyan (MONT) 3-5, unfinished
3. Valerie Quiceno Ibarguen/Nicole Bueno (MONT) def. #22 France Antezana/Aynara Ferraz (IWU) 6-3
Order of finish: 3,1
 
Singles competition:
1. #2 Stephanie Petit (MONT) def. #8 Maddie Bemisderfer (IWU) 6-4, 6-1
2. #12 Valerie Quiceno Ibarguen (MONT) def. #28 Lena Golz (IWU) 6-1, 6-3
3. #18 Ashlee Fisk (IWU) def. Vaishnavi Venkatesh (MONT) 6-4, 6-3
4. France Antezana (IWU) vs. Carol Reis (MONT) 0-6, 6-2, 2-3, unfinished
5. #36 Thais Mendez (IWU) vs. Nicole Bueno (MONT) 6-2, 2-6, 4-1, unfinished
6. Mariam Bayatyan (MONT) def. Melanie Dveksler (IWU) 6-2, 6-3
Order of finish: 1,3,2,6