No. 5 Gabriela Knutson advanced to the final 16 of the NCAA women’s tennis championships Thursday morning with a three set win, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3, over No. 38 Erin Larner of Northwestern. Knutson’s win leaves her as the top remaining seed on her half of the bracket in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Knutson was in command of the points from the opening ball, pushing Larner around the court with her first serve and forehand. She grabbed a break in the middle of the first set and held on for a 6-4 win in the opening set.

In the second set, the errors started flying for Knutson. She missed some first serves and floated forehands long beyond the baseline. Larner’s rock solid second set performance earned her an early 3-1 lead, which quickly became 5-1. Knutson appeared visibly frustrated with herself as the errors piled up, and Larner took the second set 6-2.

The third set opened poorly for Knutson, who made three unforced errors in the opening game, losing her serve. Larner, however, could not capitalize, as she faltered on her own service.

With the final set level at one, Knutson turned her game around. She hit two big first serves to dig out of trouble on serve and take a 2-1 lead. She barely missed a drop volley that caught the tape at 2-1, 30-15, and Larner was able to hold serve.

From that point forward, Knutson took over. She won the ensuing three games, including a critical deuce point on serve at 4-2 to put the match out of reach. Larner held serve with her back against the wall, but Knutson was able to serve out the final set, 6-3.

Knutson will play in singles again tomorrow, against Pepperdine’s No. 22 Mayar Sherif Ahmed, for a spot in the quarterfinals.