SOUTH HADLEY, MA. –
Top-seeded Williams women's tennis (18-2, 8-0 NESCAC)
advanced to the NESCAC tournament finals with a 5-1 defeat of
fourth-seeded Middlebury College (13-5, 4-3). Due to
inclement weather, the match was moved from Amherst College to an
indoor facility at Mount Holyoke College.
“It was very fun to avenge our two doubles
losses from two weeks ago,” said Williams head coach Alison
Swain. “We had really awesome energy heading into our
match. We are so excited to begin post season play, and Middlebury
played really strong singles and I was proud of how we responded."
Williams defeated Middlebury in their regular
season conference match up, 7-2, on April 21. The Panthers
managed to take two of three doubles from the Ephs before Williams
took over by sweeping singles play. Today, the Ephs were able
to grab the 2-1 advantage early on.
Lucy Marchese and Caroline Capute took their
match first, winning by a dominant 8-1 score. Their
opponents, Brittney Faber and Leah Kepping, had defeated the Ephs
pair by the same score on April 21, but Marchese and Capute proved
to be too good this morning. Kristin Alotta and Nikki Reich
faltered at court two next, but Grace Baljon and Taylor French
closed out the doubles play on a positive note with an 8-2 win at
court one.
Reich, Baljon, and Capute tallied the next three
points in singles play. Reich won 6-3, 6-4 at court three
against Faber, while Baljon took a first set tiebreak and a 6-2
second set to tally the fourth points for the Ephs. Capute
clinched the decisive fifth point to send her squad into the NESCAC
finals with a 6-2, 6-4 win at court six.
The Ephs will take on second-seeded Amherst
tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. The Lord Jeffs also received a
first-round bye, and advanced to tomorrow's final match with a 5-0
win over third-seeded Tufts.
Williams has not won an outright NESCAC title
since 2003, and has been defeated by Amherst in the final match of
the tournament for the past five years. The two squads have
split their matches this year with Amherst taking the fall match
up, and Williams winning the spring match. The Lord Jeffs
won, 6-3, on October 3 while the Ephs took a 6-3 win on April 18.
Williams 5, Middlebury 1
Doubles:
1) Grace Baljon/Taylor French (W) def. Jamie
Haar/Alexandra McAtee (M) --- 8-2 (3rd)
2) Victoria Aiello/Anna Burke (M) def. Kristin
Alotta/Nicole Reich (W) --- 8-5 (2nd)
3) Lucy Marchese/Caroline Capute (W) def.
Brittney Faber/Leah Kepping (M) --- 8-1 (1st)
Singles:
1) Grace Baljon (W) def. Victoria Aiello (M) 7-6(4), 6-2
2) Alexandra McAtee (M) leads Kristin Alotta (W) 7-5, 6-5 (DNF)
3) Nicole Reich (W) def. Brittney Faber (M) 6-3, 6-4
4) Lucy Marchese (W) leads Jamie Haar (M) 6-4, 5-5 (DNF)
5) Leah Kepping (M) leads Nancy Worley (W) [1-6], 6-2, 2-0 (DNF)
6) Caroline Capute (W) def. Anna Burke (M) 6-2, 6-4
