MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – The Bowdoin women's tennis team fought back from a 2-1 deficit after doubles play to capture a 5-4 win in the NESCAC Quarterfinals against Wesleyan on Friday evening at Middlebury.

Pilar Giffenig clinched the win for the fourth-seeded Polar Bears (13-4) at #6 singles after the fifth-seeded Cardinals (11-3) evened the match at four apiece.

Wesleyan took a quick 2-0 lead in doubles play as their #1 duo of Eudice Chong/Aashli Budhiraja (8-2) and #3 pairing of Helen Klass-Warch/Dasha Dubinsky (8-4) put the Polar Bears in an early hole. The Cardinals were on the verge of taking a back-breaking 3-0 lead until Bowdoin's Tess Trinka and Kyra Silitch rallied for the Polar Bears at #2. Tied at 8-8, Trinka and Silitch won a tiebreaker 13-11 to keep Bowdoin within striking distance.

Singles play featured back-and-forth action as wins by Wesleyan's Chong (6-0, 6-1) at #1 and Dasha Dubinsky (0-6, 7-6, 6-0) at #5 were countered by victories by Trinka (6-2, 6-2) at #3, Tiffany Cheng (6-0, 7-5) at #2 and Silitch (6-2, 6-1) at #4 for Bowdoin, tying the match at four apiece and setting the stage for a dramatic finish at #6 singles.

Bowdoin's Pilar Giffenig and Wesleyan's Anna Howard battled for three sets to determine the match. Giffenig claimed the first set 6-3 before Howard battled back with an impressive 6-0 win in the second. Giffenig bounced back to dominate the third, however, winning 6-1 to advance Bowdoin to the semifinals.

Bowdoin moves on to play top-seeded Williams tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. The Polar Bears dropped a close 5-4 decision to the Ephs last week in the closest match of Williams' season.