CLAREMONT, CA. - Following a brutal afternoon under the California sun to open the NCAA Individual Championships,
Jackie Soloveychik '27 and
Lane Durkin '27 advance to the singles draw quarterfinal after clearing Rounds One and Two from the Biszants Family Tennis Center at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
Entering the tournament as the No. 2 and No. 6 ranked singles players in Division III, Soloveychik and Durkin returned to the Biszants tennis courts to compete in the first two rounds of the draw following the conclusion of the team tournament. Washington University was crowned the 2025 National Champions.
Facing Washington's Eleanor Acher, Soloveychik left little room for error and was quick to points from the get-go. Dropping just two games in Round One, Soloveychik held Archer to a 6-1, 6-1 final and earned a spot within the draw later in the afternoon.
Next for Soloveychik was Babson's Matia Cristiani. The Round Two matchup saw Cristiani give Soloveychik quite a bit of push back in the first set, gaining four games on Soloveychik before Soloveychik won and cruised to a 6-4, 6-1 final after set two.
Durkin, who would go on to play three total matches on the day, began Round One with a match against Case Western Reserve's Lily McClosky. At 21-0, Durkin remains undefeated in singles play but has been forced to three unfinished matches in her last three outings with the Cardinals. McClosky managed three games against the sophomore but was unable to catch Durkin as Durkin climbed to a 6-2, 6-1 tally.
Awaiting Durkin in Round Two was Babson's Olivia Soffer. Soffer took Durkin to task and jumped within two games of Durkin's lead, but it was Durkin that ultimately prevailed in the 6-4, 6-4 final to reach the quarterfinal.
With one match to go, Durkin joined teammate
Sarah Youngberg '26 as the Cardinals' top doubles pairing, facing Archer and Caitlin Bui of Washington. The Cardinals led through the first five games of set one, but it was the Bears that flipped the match and took set one in the best of three series in extra games. The Bears' stretch of success was short lived in set two, Durkin and Youngberg won four in a row to catch the Bears and tie the match up at four and five before flipping to take the lead. Forcing a tiebreak at six, the Bears snatched the match in a 7-5, 7-6 (3) final.
Soloveychik and Durkin will return to action on Sunday, May 25, with action beginning at 1 p.m. EST.
