MEDFORD, MA. – With the start of
conference play this afternoon against Tufts University, Williams
looked to be in fine form and showed no signs of cooling off in
their 7-2 defeat of the Jumbos. The Ephs remain unbeaten this
spring against Division III competition, posting a 10-2 overall
record as the second ranked team in the nation.
“It was our first conference match of the season so we
went out with an energy that was like we were starting all over
again,” said Williams senior captain, Grace Baljon.
“Everyone was fresh, and everyone pumped each other up.
The energy went up and down the courts, and that helped a lot in
some of the matches where people lost the second set and had to
come back. This win was a really good way to start off the
conference season.”
Baljon and Taylor French avenged their loss in the fall's
ITA New England Championship doubles final to Julia Browne and
Meghan McCooey. The Tufts pair defeated Baljon and French in
a tiebreak to take the title, but today Williams dominated in an
8-3 victory. Baljon and French ended Browne and
McCooey's undefeated streak at number one doubles this season
against DIII opponents.
Kristin Alotta and Nikki Reich fought hard to a tiebreak at
court two, but fell 9-8(5). Caroline Capute and Lucy Marchese
won by an 8-5 score at court three to give the Ephs a 2-1 advantage
heading to singles play.
The Jumbo's Browne may have lost in her doubles match, but
she rebounded to deal Baljon a straight set loss at number one
singles, 6-2, 6-2. Alotta was challenged at court two,
falling in a second tiebreak after winning the first set. The
Williams sophomore shrugged off the second set loss, cruising to a
6-1 third set for the win. Reich did not have an easy time at
court three either, but overcame her challenger at court three in a
second set tiebreak.
The bottom of the Ephs singles ladder took care of
business. Marchese won in straight sets at court four, while
Capute was dominant at court six. She won handily, tallying a
6-1, 6-1 victory. Worley fell in the first set at court five,
but rallied to win the second set and a super breaker to bring the
overall final margin of victory to 7-2 in the Ephs favor.
Williams will look to continue their winning ways tomorrow as
they travel to play #1 Amherst in a showdown of the top two teams
in the nation.
“Tufts is such a deep team so knowing that we can do this
well against those kind of opponents gives us confidnce going
in to tomorrow against Amherst,” continued Baljon.
“Amherst is a different sort of match than Tufts because
there is so much history, and we go back and forth all the time but
it makes it that much more exciting.”
Amherst defeated Williams on October 3, 2009 by a 6-3 score,
while Williams took the match before that to win its second
straight national championship in the spring of 2009.
“They [Amherst] are ranked above of us,” said
Baljon. “This is our one opportunity to take pressure
off of ourselves and work on things we want to improve on, and
really take it to them.”
First serve is set for 1:00 p.m.
Williams 7, Tufts 2
Doubles:
1) Grace Baljon/Taylor French (W) def. Julia Browne/Meghan
McCooey (T) --- 8-3
2) Lindsay Katz/Janice Lam (T) def. Kristin Alotta/Nikki Reich
(W) --- 9-8 (5)
3) Caroline Capute/Lucy Marchese (W) def. Lauren Hollender/Erica
Miller (T) --- 8-5
Exhibition:
4) Nancy Worley/Veronika Li (W) def. Jennifer LaCara/Edwina
Stewart (T) --- 8-6
Singles:
1) Browne (T) def. Baljon (W) --- 6-2, 6-2
2) Alotta (W) def. McCooey (T) --- 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1
3) Reich (W) def. Katz (T) --- 6-3, 7-6(5)
4) Marchese (W) def. Stewart (T) --- 6-2, 7-5
5) Worley (W) def. Lamb (T) --- 1-6, 6-2, 13-11
6) Capute (W) def. Hollander (T) --- 6-1, 6-1
Exhibition:
7) LaCara (T) def. Ashley Parsons (W) --- 8-6
8) Friedman (W) def. Nathalie Schils (T) --- 8-3
9) Li (W) def. Hillary Rosen (T) --- 9-7
