Ephs Win Little Threes

MIDDLETOWN, CT – Williams traveled to Wesleyan on Sunday to compete in the annual Little Three competition against Wesleyan and Amherst. The Ephs defeated Amherst 9-0 and Wesleyan 7-2 in route to their fifteenth consecutive title.

One of the preseason goals for Williams is to win the Little Three and today they did just that. Playing Amherst first, the Ephs were challenged throughout the ladder, but eventually prevailed at every position. Playing in the unusual four-court system, Williams started off strong with four wins, setting the tone and relieving the pressure for the rest of the team.

Ananya Mahalingam-Dhingra (#9), Nicole Feshbach (#4) and Hayley Parsons (#2) all won in three games. Ellen Coombe (#6) battled hard in her five gamer and came out on top 12-10 in the final game. With the overall match score at 4-0, the match was set out for a positive outcome for the Ephs with only one more win necessary to take the victory.

In the second round, Alyssa Ritchie (#8) and co-captain Ellie O'Neill (#3) delivered the final blow with each of them winning 3-0 over their Amherst opponents. Nicole Friedman (#1) also pulled through with a close four-game win. Last left playing were Caroline Sawin (#5) and Charlotte Walsh (#7). Walsh was up 2-1 in her match, only to have her opponent come back to tie it at 2-2. Walsh was resilient to the attempted comeback and finished her opponent 11-6 in the fifth.

With every Williams player coming off court with a victory, co-captain Caroline Sawin made sure she made a clean sweep of it. After winning the first two 11-9 and 12-10, her opponent came back to win the next two by the slimmest of margins with game scores 13-11 and 12-10. Sawin prevented her adversary from completing the comeback though with a dominating 11-3 performance in the fifth game to take the match.

After their 9-0 victory over Amherst, Williams had little time to rest before they faced Wesleyan in the final round of the Little Three competition. Every victory for the Ephs came in decisive fashion with 3-0 match scores. With one loss at the number one position and one default from injury, Williams came away with a 7-2 victory over Wesleyan.

The Ephs finished their long week on a high note with their 15^th consecutive Little Three title. The week was overall very successful with an important 5-4 win against Midd and a 6-3 victory versus Drexel.

"I thought we did well today, especially considering how many matches we've had this week," commented O'Neill. "It's always satisfying to play well against Amherst. The team is now ready for a day off before we begin to prepare for NESCACs at Williams next weekend."

Head coach Zafi Levy agreed with his co-captain on the team's performance. "I am really pleased with the team's performance today," added Levy. "We had an incredibly busy week with five really intense matches. Winning today, in back to back match against tough opponents was impressive. Winning the Little Three is one of our top goals and winning the title for the 15 years in a row is an impressive achievement for the program. We will take a day off and start to prepare for NESCACs next weekend."

As both Levy and O'Neill alluded to, NESCACs will be held at Williams this year. One of the preseason goals for the Ephs is to make it to the finals of the championships, and they will look to make this goal a reality next weekend starting with their first round match on Saturday, February 7^th. 

Individual Results vs. Amherst:

Individual Results vs. Wesleyan: