WILLIAMSTOWN, MA. – The
defending national champions would love to win what escaped them
last season---a NESCAC title. The Williams women's
tennis team is one step closer to that goal, cruising past
Middlebury in the conference semifinals, 5-0.
The
Ephs took control early on, with Cary Gibson and Nikki Reich
rattling off an 8-0 match at court one. The following two matches were
more closely contested, but Williams came out on top of both for
the 3-0 lead.
Nikki
Reich and Kristin Alotta tallied the two necessary points for the
win. At court three,
Reich relinquished only one game in the first set, before
frustrating her opponent with a 6-0 second set. Alotta dominated in her first
set, struggled to pull ahead by a significant
margin in the second, but pulled out the win, 6-0, 7-5.
“I'm
really proud for being up in all our matches,” said
Williams' head coach Alison Swain. “Every player took
ownership of all their matches today.”
The
Ephs will take on Amherst tomorrow in the title match. Amherst defeated Williams in the
finals of last season's NESCAC tournament by a 5-4 margin,
and have been the only team all season long to defeat Williams on
April 18, also in a 5-4 result.
“We're
looking forward to that match,” continued Swain. “They bring out some of
our best play, and at this point in the season we have to beat
every team we play.”
Williams 5, Middlebury 0
Doubles-
1)
Gibson/Reich (W) def. Stone/Kurien (M) --- 8-0
2)
Baljon/French (W) def. Burke/Burke (M) --- 8-6
3)
Hancock/Alotta (W) def. Aiello/Haar (M) --- 9-7
Singles-
1)
Baljon (W) led Aiello (M) --- 6-2, 3-2
2)
Gibson (W) led Kurien (M) --- 7-5, 4-0
3)
Reich (W) def. Stone (M) --- 6-1, 6-0
4)
Alotta (W) def. C. Burke (M) --- 6-0, 7-5
5)
Marcese (W) led A. Burke (M) --- 6-3, 4-2
6)
Hancock (W) led Haar (M) --- 6-2, 2-0
