MIDDLEBURY—For the first time in the tournament's current format the Williams Women's tennis team are NESCAC champions.
The Ephs defeated Amherst 5-3 at Middlebury College this afternoon to take the title, after having lost both of the teams' 2010-2011 encounters.
Williams was in danger of dropping all three matches in doubles play before Kathleen Elkins and Caroline Capute came up big, winning 8-6 at the number three position. Elkins would also prove to play a pivotal role in the outcome of the match during singles play.
Down 2-1, Lucy Marchese was first off the court during singles play with a 6-0, 6-4 win. "Lucy has just been unbelievable this weekend. Her win to tie up the match gave everybody else confidence on their courts," commented head coach Alison Swain.
Nancy Worley earned the next point for the Ephs at the number two position. With a Caroline Capute down a set at #6, however, Kathleen Elkins and Nikki Reich had little room for error.
Elkins notched her second point of the match to pull the Ephs within one point of victory. The win gave Elkins a perfect 3-0 record against Amherst in singles play in her freshmen season. Reich then demonstrated her senior leadership and put Williams over the top.
"Kathleen was huge with the match potentially on her racket, and as for Nikki, as a senior to clinch the NESCAC championship match… it doesn't get much better than that" commented Swain.
Williams will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the champions of NESCAC and try to make it four national championships in a row. Seeds are released Monday night at 7:00. Added Swain, "we're playing some good tennis right now and but we'll try to keep improving this week and see what happens."
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| 2011 NESCAC Champions |
Doubles:
1. Brewer/Devlin (A) def. Reich/Marchese (W) 8-2
2. Brown/Mimi Bell (A) def. Taylor French/Alotta (W) 9-7
3. Elkins/Capute (W) def. Richman/Jen Newman (A) – 8-6
Singles:
1. Jordan Brewer (A) def. Kristin Alotta (W) – 6-1, 6-0
2. Nancy Worley (W) def. Carlissa King (A) – 6-3, 6-0
3. Lucy Marchese (W) def. Gabby Devlin (A) - 6-0, 6-4
4. Kathleen Elkins (W) def. Caroline Richman (A) – 6-4, 6-3
5. Nicole Reich (W) def. Natasha Brown (A) – 6-4, 6-3
6. Laken King (A) led. Caroline Capute (W) – 6-3, 4-5
