Fredericksburg, Va - The Williams College Ephs (9-0) concluded their spring road trip on Friday, topping the Blue Jays of Johns Hopkins University (7-2), 7-2. It has been a fruitful campaign for the women of Williams this spring (#3 nationally). Since traveling to Virginia, the Ephs have knocked off the nation's top ranked teams (Emory/Johns Hopkins), solidifying their position as one of the country's most competitive units.
Johns Hopkins struck first on Friday. Ashnaa Rao (JH) '17 and Shannon Herndon (JH) '15 looked strong in the opening doubles match, overcomming the Ephs' pairing of Maria Pylypiv '15 and Julia Cancio '18, 8-3. Williams battled back in the second match, however, lifted by an 8-6 win from Juli Raventos (W) '18 and Linda Shin (W) '17. Rebecca Curran (W) '15 and Maya Hart (W) '16 showed some agressive net play to defeat Hopkins' Law/Chen 8-3,and put Williams up 2-1 after doubles.
In singles, the Ephs' Maria Pylypiv and Mia Gancayco '18 jumped out to an early lead, defeating their opponents 6-0, 7-6(3) and 6-1, 6-4. The Blue Jays' Sydney Lehman (JH) responded with a decisive win, however, overcomming Juli Raventos (W) 6-4, 6-2. With the score at 4-2, Williams began to find their stride, powered by Cancio (W) and Curran (W), each winning their match in two sets. The Ephs' Linda Shin proved resilient against her opponent Amanda Austi (JH) '17, taking the match to three sets, but utimately coming out on top, 6-2, 4-6, 6-0 - sealing a Williams victory at 7-2.
Williams head coach Alison Swain commented - "Hopkins played tough tennis today against us. I thought our team stepped up exceptionally well in those moments to help us earn the victory overall. Im so proud of the heart and effort we put into all our matches this spring break. We will use what we've learned through these matches to focus on improving from here."
With Friday's win the Ephs jump into contention for the nation's top ranking in division 3. They will set their sights to next friday, April 10th, as they take on the Engineers of MIT. The match is set for 4pm and will be played at MIT's campus.
Williams 7, Johns Hopkins University 2
Doubles
1. Rao/Herndon (JH) def. Pylypiv/Cancio (W) 8-3
2. Raventos/Shin (W) def. Lehman/Baik (JH) 8-6
3. Curran/Hart (W) def. Law/Chen (JH) 8-4
Singles
1. Pylypiv (W) def. Rao (JH) 6-0, 7-6(3)
2. Lehman (JH) def. Raventos (W) 6-4, 6-2
3. Shin (W) def. Austi (JH) 6-2, 4-6, 6-0
4. Curran (W) def. Law (JH) 6-2, 7-5
5. Cancio (W) def. Chen (JH) 6-0, 6-4
6. Gancayco (W) def. Herndon (JH) 6-1, 6-4
