US NATIONAL TENNIS CENTER---Trailing 4-2 and on the brink of elimination, the No. 2 seeded Brooklyn College women's team rallied to win their next three singles matches to squeak by No. 3 seed Baruch College, and advance to the CUNYAC Championship against No. 4 John Jay.  Brooklyn senior, Julia Mekler, would win the deciding match at No. 6 flight singles (4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2) after being down a set and grinding out a tiebreaker win in the second set.  

"We have been relying on each other as a team all season," Mekler would comment following the three-set thriller. "Tonight, the team was relying on me, and I couldn't be happier to be moving on to the championship.  Now it's time to get some rest to be ready for Sunday." 

The Bulldogs took a 2-1 lead following doubles play.  Baruch, who looked to avenge a 7-2 regular season loss to Brooklyn early in the season, responded with Lejla Redzematovic's (6-1, 6-0) victory at No. 5 singles and Sharada Tangirala's (6-2, 6-0) win at No. 4 singles to give Baruch a 3-2 advantage.  Grace Graham's (6-2, 6-1) win at No. 2 singles put the Bulldogs on their heels.  

However, Brooklyn junior Ievgeniia Kostenko started the Bulldogs' rally with a (7-6 (8-6), 6-2) at No. 1 singles.  Sophomore Georgeen Belrose followed Kostenko's lead with a (6-4, 6-4) win at No. 3 singles to tie the match, and set the stage for Mekler's heroics.  

Brooklyn will now take on John Jay, who upset No. 1 seed CSI in the first semifinal match of the day also in thrilling fashion, 5-4, on Sunday at the US National Tennis Center.  Doubles play is scheduled for a 3:00 pm start.