Courtesy Tufts Sports Information

MOBILE, Ala. - Junior tri-captain Julia Browne (Old Brookville, N.Y.) and senior tri-captain Meghan McCooey (Cumberland, R.I.) of the Tufts University women's tennis team won their second straight Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Small College National Championship in doubles on Friday afternoon at the Copeland-Cox Tennis Center.

The Tufts pair were 7-5, 6-3 winners over The College of New Jersey's (TCNJ) Jackie Shtemberg and Felice Trinh in the finals. Browne and McCooey were the #2 seed in the Division III doubles draw. The TCNJ duo had eliminated top seed Kendra Higgins and Chrissy Hu from the University of Chicago in the first round.

Browne and McCooey defeated Abby Olbrich and Sallie Katter from Linfield College 6-4, 6-3 in the opening round on Thursday afternoon. Later in the day, in the semi-finals, they won 6-4, 6-3 again versus Paige Sumida and Whitney Waters from the University of Redlands. That put them in the finals on Friday at 5:00.

The talented Tufts twosome won the Division III doubles title at the 2008 ITA National Small College Championships, defeating Marta Drane and Kristin Cobb from Denison by 6-2, 6-2 scores. That win marked the first national title for Tufts Tennis in the history of the program. Today's victory is the second.

As 2009 Division III doubles champions, Browne and McCooey played in the "Super Bowl" of the ITA Small College Championships on Saturday afternoon. That bracket includes each champion from the Division II, Division III, NAIA and Junior College brackets at the event. The Tufts team lost to Jillian O'Neill and Olivia Howlett from Hillsborough Junior College 6-3, 6-2 in the "Super Bowl" semi-finals.

In the NCAA Division III Women's Singles bracket started on Thursday, Browne defeated Kathryn Schmidt of Carleton College 6-4 and 6-0. She advanced to the semi-final round on Friday, where she lost 6-4, 6-0 to Elizabeth Lewis from Chapman University. On Satuarday, Browne defeated Laura Chen from Carnegie Mellon University 7-6 (6), 6-2 in the third-place match.

This is the second straight year that Browne has participated in singles play at the ITA Small College Nationals. She also reached the semi-finals last year, where she was eliminated by Jennifer Kung of the University of Chicago in three sets (7-5, 4-6, 6-4). Browne finished fourth overall after losing to Lewis from Chapman in the third-place match 6-2, 6-4.