VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
WILLIAMSTOWN, MA—The Williams women's tennis team toppled conference foe #5 Tufts University Saturday afternoon 8-1.
The match, forced inside Lansing-Chapman Rink by wind and rain, stretched from 3 PM until nearly 10 at night, by which time Williams had prevailed in two doubles contests and all six singles matchups.
Kathleen Elkins may have had the match of the day for the Ephs. At #4 singles, the first-year took the first set 6-2 before dropping a tiebreak in the second, 7-6 (6). But Elkins pulled away midway through the final set and broke opponent Lauren Hollender to win 6-3.
At #3, Lucy Marchese dropped the first but prevailed in three sets, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1. Kristin Alotta played another marathon at #1, defeating defending NCAA singles champ Julia Browne 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.
"We really rose to the occasion today," Alotta said of the team. "Singles looked particularly strong today, we played confidently and knew we could take every court."
The other three singles matches went more quickly for Williams. Nancy Worley dropped only two games en route to a dominating win at #2, Nikki Reich won in a comfortable 6-1, 6-3 match at #5 and #6 Caroline Capute capped off the evening with a crisp 6-0, 6-0 win.
The first decision of the day went to the Jumbos when they claimed a decisive 8-0 win at #3 doubles, but Williams was in control the rest of the day. Marchese and Reich won 9-7 at #1 and the team of Alotta and Taylor French held on late in an 8-6 win.
"This was one of our strongest outings of the spring," Alotta added, but acknowledged that the team is still looking forward. "I think we're in a great position to go into postseason play in two weeks."
Results
1. Lucy Marchese/Nikki Reich (W) def Julia Browne/Shelci Bowman 9-7
2. Kristin Alotta/Taylor French (W) def Eliza Flynn/Lindsay Katz 8-6
3. Samantha Gann/Janice Lam (T) def Nancy Worley/Caroline Capute 8-0
1. Kristin Alotta (W) def Julia Browne (T) 6-4 5-7 6-3
2. Nancy Worley (W) Lindsay Katz (T) def 6-0 6-2
3. Lucy Marchese (W) def Shelci Bowman (T) 3-6 6-3 6-1
4. Kathleen Elkins (W) def Lauren Hollender (T) 6-2 6-7 (6) 6-3
5. Nikki Reich (W) def Samantha Gann (T) 6-1 6-3
6. Caroline Capute (W) def Edwina Stewardt (T) 6-0 6-0
