GENEVA, N.Y. – Zoey Albert and Chase Eisenberg came agonizingly close to booking a surprise berth in the ITA Northeast Regional doubles championship on Sunday, falling mere points short in a nail-biting 8-7 (6) semifinal against a pairing from Vassar.

Albert and Eisenberg entered the weekend unseeded but dispatched two seeded duos en route to the semifinals, including an 8-0 blanking of a strong NYU squad earlier in the morning. That set up a semifinal showdown with Sophie Chen and Erin McCusker, with a trip to next month's ITA Cup on the line. The Vassar pair emerged victorious, ending the Lions' Cinderella bid.  

HIGHLIGHTS

• Albert and Eisenberg's remarkable run through the doubles bracket continued with a shocking 8-0 sweep of NYU's Jimena Menendez and Ksenia Goel, who had beaten the Lions pair, 8-5, just a week prior at TCNJ
• Albert and Eisenberg then met No. 2 seed Chen and McCusker of Vassar in the semifinals, forcing a tiebreaker at 7-7 and nearly pulling off yet another upset before succumbing to an 8-6 decision
• Aira Abalos more than held her own in a daunting matchup with No. 1 seed Josephine Libby, a two-time NCAA qualifier and national quarterfinalist in 2021, in the singles Roind of 16 on Sunday morning. After dropping the first set, 6-2, in their third-round tilt, Abalos stormed back to secure the second set by a convincing 6-1 margin. That sent the match to a super breaker, and Libby was able to stave off Abalos, 10-5, to book a hard-earned spot in the quarterfinals

UP NEXT

• The Lions concluded the fall portion of their schedule and will return in the spring