FREDICKSBURG, VA – Third ranked Williams
women's tennis (6-1) won its fifth consecutive match today
downing #11 Carnegie Mellon University (8-5) 7-2 in the Ephs second
match of the Fab 5 Tournament hosted by Mary Washington University.
Williams opened the match winning two of the three doubles
matches, losing only at three in a tiebreaker. The Ephs added to
their 2-1 doubles margin by winning five of six singles matches to
claim their fifth win in a row.
“Carnegie Mellon is just like us in that they just
won't give an inch when their backs are up against the
wall,” noted Eph head coach Alison Swain. “They really
pushed us to play confident tennis and the girls responded very
well. We really fought hard in singles and took none of the matches
for granted.”
Sophomore Caroline Capute played at number four in the Eph
singles lineup today filling in for junior Lucy Marchese and won in
straight sets. With Capute moving up the lineup Ashley Parsons also
moved up one spot to fifth, where she was victorious in straight
sets. Playing at six singles today was first year Nancy Worley who
won her match with identical 6-0 scores.
Kristin Alotta entered today's match with a 39-match win
streak in singles and that streak almost ended this afternoon, but
Alotta refused to yield, even though the team match was already
determined. Alotta took the first set from Courtney Chin 6-4, but
Chin rallied to take the second set 7-6 and 7-0 in the tiebreaker.
“Kristin really came up big in the super tiebreaker even
though she was not playing her best tennis,” said Swain.
“Not only did she show huge mental toughness in coming back
from not scoring in the tiebreaker, she showed tremendous desire in
fighting through to the end, despite the fact that the team match
had already been decided.” Alotta trailed in the super
tiebreaker 7-4, before rattling off six of the last seven points to
boost her singles win streak to 40.
Next up for the Ephs is a showdown match with second ranked
Emory. The Eagles of Emory are undefeated vs. Division III teams
this year, pending a match later today versus the Generals of
Washington & Lee, before lining up against Williams tomorrow at
11:00 AM.
“We're very excited to play Emory because we know
that they will push us to play our best,” stated Swain.
Williams 7, Carnegie Mellon 2
Doubles:
1. Nikki Reich/Kristin Alotta (W) def. Ashley Herrick/Laura Chen
(CM) – 8-4
2. Grace Baljon/Taylor French (W) def. Courtney Chin/Alexandra
Tapak (CM) – 8-6
3. Cze-Ja Tam/Jennifer Chui (CM) def. Caroline Capute/Lucy
Marchese (W) – 9-8(8-6)
Singles:
1. Laura Chen (CM) def. Grace Baljon (W) – 6-2, 6-4
2. Kristin Alotta (W) def. Courtney Chin (CM) – 6-4,
6-7(7-0), 10-8
3. Nikki Reich (W) def. Alexandra Tapak (CM) – 6-3, 6-3
4. Carolin Capute (W) def. Jennifer Chui (CM) – 6-1, 6-4
5. Ashley Parsons (W) def. Cze-Ja Tam (CM) – 7-6(7-3), 6-2
6. Nancy Worley (W) def. Alisa Liebowitz (CM) – 6-0, 6-0
