Kelley Black

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — St. Andrew’s-Sewanee’s Marie Bowi knew she needed to keep going. Even in a tiebreaker, she hadn’t lost the tennis match yet.

Bowi’s tough win helped the Lady Mountain Lions eliminate St. George’s 4-1 Tuesday afternoon in a TSSAA Division II-A semifinal at Middle Tennessee State University.

SAS (10-2) plays for the TSSAA’s first team tennis Division II-A title and the school’s first state team championship in any sport today against University School of Nashville, the only opponent that has beaten the Lady Mountain Lions this year. This is also the Lady Mountain Lions’ first appearance in Spring Fling.

“The girls had a great week of preparation and really jelled well as a team,” SAS coach Kelley Black said. “They were very confident today, and we’re really excited to have this opportunity.”

The Lady Mountain Lions lost to USN in two close regular-season matches. USN beat Harding Academy 4-1 in the other semifinal Tuesday.

SAS eighth-grader Sadie Shackelford beat Benay Weintraub at No. 1 singles, 6-2, 6-2, and her older sister Avery defeated Ella Paul, 6-0, 6-2 at No. 2. The Lady Mountain Lions’ Friederike Greiwe beat Sabrina Blum, 6-2, 6-0, in the No. 3 position.

St. George’s Mary Ashley Seabrook beat Zoe Petropoulos, 7-5, 6-1, at No. 4 to make Bowi’s match at No. 5 the decisive singles match.

To clinch the historic win, Bowi, an exchange student from Essen, Germany, outlasted St. George’s Brook Boucek 2-6, 6-0, 7-6(4).

“It was exhausting, really tiring,” Bowi said. “She had an opportunity for two match points, but I said to myself, ‘You haven’t lost this match yet — keep fighting.’”