Box Score CHATTANOOGA, TN (05.30.21) - The historic spring for the UT Dallas women's tennis doubles team of Kathy Joseph and Samantha Wong came to an end Sunday afternoon with a three-set loss in the semifinals of the NCAA Division III Doubles Championship, but not before the duo joined the ranks of Comet All-Americans.

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The duo rallied after dropping a 6-2 decision in the first set to Emory's Stephanie Taylor and Christina Taylor, even the match with a 6-3 win in the second set. The Comets battled in the third set with the Emory team before eventually closing the season with a 7-5 loss in the third set, played at the Champions Club Tennis Complex at Rivermont Park.

The UTD pair struggled in the opening set as its suffered five double faults and managed just 22 of 54 points against the Eagles in the quick defeat. However, the Comets fought back in the second set, scoring 57 percent (38-of-67) of the points while connecting on 22-of-27 (81%) of their first serves to event the duel. 

With the third set tied, 2-2, the Comets took a lead on the service by Wong and later held a 4-3 cushion after both teams held serve. The Eagles would even the contest, 4-4, before Wong held again to push UTD to a 5-4 advantage. But, Emory would take the final three games to rally for the 7-5 win and advance to the national finals.

Statistically, the final set was as near as even as possible with Emory holding a 46-41 advantage in points won. The difference came in double faults as the Comets suffered four in the set, two of which coming late as Eagles took a 6-5 lead.

The Comets advanced to the semifinals after a straight-set win over Carnegie Mellon's Lindy Cornwall and Bin Zheng on Saturday. Joseph and Wong rolled to a 6-1 win over the CMU pair in the first set, but needed to battle from behind to complete the straight-victory over the Tartan pair to move on. Down 5-3 in the second set, Joseph and Wong rallied back for four straight games keep their season alive and continue the longest run by a UTD doubles tandem in the national tournament.

The UTD team won 65-of-110 points (59%) in the duel while breaking the Tartans five times in the contest. The Comets landed their first serve 77 percent (48-of-62) of the time.

Joseph and Wong opened their run in the doubles draw Friday with a hard-fought 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, win over Washington-St. Louis' Ally Persky and Karen Gao, in a match that had over an hour delay due to rain and venue change. The Comets were leading the match, 4-1, in the opening set before forced to move indoors due to weather. Joseph and Wong held on for the first set win, but struggled in the second set after the venue change. The twosome responded with a quick 6-2 win in the deciding set to become the first Comets doubles tandem to earn a national tournament victory.

The Comet two-some was the second such set from UTD to qualify for the national doubles tournament as Joseph and former Comet Sindhu Ravula were picked to participate in 2019. Joseph and Ravula dropped their opening-round match in that year's event.

By winning their first match in the national draw, Joseph and Wong became NCAA D-III All-Americans for the 2020-21 season. Joseph also claimed All-America honors in singles play this spring, advancing to the semifinals in the tournament this week as well.