BRUNSWICK, ME — The Williams College women's tennis team made the long trip up to Bowdoin to play the Polar Bears on Saturday morning in a match that was forced to be moved indoors half-way through due to rain. In spite of the delay, the Ephs remained focused and emerged with a 7-2 victory to bounce back successfully from their first loss of the season. With the win, the Ephs' record goes to 17-1 (NESCAC 6-1) on the season, as the Polar Bears drop to 13-5 (NESCAC 6-2).
The Ephs did well to emerge from doubles with the 2-1 advantage, as they were behind in all three of the doubles matches early. In spite of their early deficit, the Eph pairing of senior Kara Shoemaker and junior Rebecca Curan turned around their match at one-doubles to overcome senior Emma Lewis and freshman Joulia Likhanskaia to take the first point of the match 8-5. The Eph duo of senior Kathleen Elkins and junior Maria Pylypiv were not so lucky at the number two position, as the Polar Bear combination of senior Kate Winingham and freshman Samantha Stadler were able to keep hold of their early lead to equalize the match at 1-1 with an 8-6 win. The match advantage then came down to three-doubles, as the Eph combo of freshman Linda Shin and sophomore Alex Stone faced off against Polar Bear sophomore Tiffany Cheng and freshman Pilar Giffenig in a match that went all the way to an 8-all tiebreaker. Each team saw match points, but Stone and Shin were able to pull the match out with a 9-7 scoreline to give the Ephs the 2-1 lead going into singles.
With rain having set in, the teams were forced to halt the match to move to an indoor facility. This delay did not slow down the Ephs' momentum from doubles, though, as Shin kept right on rolling as she cruised past Winingham 6-0, 6-1 at three-singles to stretch the Ephs' lead to two points, before Shoemaker finished off Cheng 6-0, 6-3 at the number one position to leave the Ephs needing just one point to clinch the match. The Ephs did not have to wait long for that point, as Pylypiv delivered the knock-out blow to the Polar Bears at four-singles as she eased past Stalder 6-2, 6-1.
The Polar Bears would not be denied a point in the singles portion, however, and did not give up even after the match was clinched for the Ephs. Lewis grabbed a point for the Polar Bears at five-singles as she ousted Curran 6-0, 6-4. The remaining two matches at two- and six-singles went the distance, but played match-tiebreakers in lieu of third sets. After splitting the first two sets with Likhanskaia 3-6 and 6-2, Elkins edged out the tiebreaker 10-7 at the number two position. Freshman Polar Bear Kyra Silitch managed to pull out the first set against Eph junior Monica Pastor 6-4 at the number six position, but Pastor came back strong in the second set and the match-tiebreaker, taking the two 6-1 and 10-3 respectively, polishing off the match for the Ephs.
After the match, Eph head coach Alison Swain praised her team's effort: "We fought hard as a team today. We had to come from behind in all three doubles matches, so taking two of the three points was a huge victory for us. I thought we also played the big points in singles the best we have so far this season."
The Ephs play their final match of the regular season on Sunday, also in Maine, but in Waterville against Colby. The match is set to start at 10 AM EDT.
Williams 7, Bowdoin 2
- Shoemaker, Kara (WILLIAMS) def. Cheng, Tiffany (BOWDOIN) 6-0, 6-3
- Kathleen Elkins (WILLIAMS) def. Likhanskaia, Joulia (BOWDOIN) 3-6, 6-2, 10-7
- Shin, Linda (WILLIAMS) def. Winingham, Kate (BOWDOIN) 6-0, 6-1
- Pylypiv, Maria (WILLIAMS) def. Stalder, Samantha (BOWDOIN) 6-2, 6-1
- Lewis, Emma (BOWDOIN) def. Curran, Rebecca (WILLIAMS) 6-0, 6-4
- Pastor, Monica (WILLIAMS) def. Silitch, Kyra (BOWDOIN) 4-6, 6-1, 10-3
- Shoemaker, Kara/Curran, Rebecca (WILLIAMS) def. Lewis, Emma/Likhanskaia, Joulia (BOWDOIN) 8-5
- Winingham, Kate/Stalder, Samantha (BOWDOIN) def. Pylypiv, Maria/Elkins, Kathleen (WILLIAMS) 8-6
- Shin, Linda/Stone, Alex (WILLIAMS) def. Giffenig, Pilar/Cheng, Tiffany (BOWDOIN) 9-8(7)
Match Notes:
Williams 17-1 (NESCAC 6-1), nationally ranked #1
Bowdoin 13-5 (NESCAC 6-2), nationally ranked #7
