CLAREMONT, Calif. (April 17, 2009) – On the first day of the two-day Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships hosted by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, the Occidental College women's tennis team defeated the Athenas before falling to Division III No. 7 Pomona-Pitzer. Saturday the Tigers will play for third place against Cal Lutheran.

The quarterfinals saw Oxy matched up against CMS, a team they defeated earlier this season for the first time in 18 seasons. Senior co-captain Taylor Kaplan clinched the victory for the Tigers earning for the fifth and final Oxy win of the match. Prior to Kaplan sealing the deal, freshman Katrina Gould tied the match up at 4-4 with her singles win. In each of those two battles, the women went to three sets, with Kaplan and Gould winning the final point for her respective match.

In the morning session Marissa Cassman added a pair of wins in singles and at No. 2 doubles as she joined Kaplan on the court.

Rounding out the wins against CMS was freshman Frances Hutton, who dominated her opponent, winning 6-0, 6-1 at her first SCIAC Championship.

The win earned the Tigers the chance to face off with the Top SCIAC team and the No. 7 Nationally ranked Sagehens from Pomona-Pitzer.

Despite the loss to PP, team morale is high after the opening day of competition with that clutch win over CMS, which they came back from a 2-1 deficit following doubles play.

On Saturday the fourth ranked Tigers will return to Claremont, where they will have an opportunity for redemption as they face the third ranked California Lutheran University Regals at 9:30 a.m. on the North Courts in a clash for third place in the overall standings.

On April 11, Occidental suffered a disappointing 7-2 loss at the hands of the Regals and are eager for the chance to play them again.

A Tigers victory will solidify a tie for third place, while a loss would drop the Tigers to fourth place. Regardless of the outcome, Oxy has improved on their standing from last season.