Ephs Finish Strong With 2 Wins

BOSTON, MA – The Ephs ended their season on a high note with a two-match sweep of Babson College and Tufts University on Saturday. Williams blanked the Beavers 9-0, before defeating the Jumbos 7-2. These were the last two matches of the regular season, as the Ephs finished 16-3, and 6-1 in conference. Babson was coming off a 7-2 loss to Brandeis University, while #17 Tufts was riding an upset victory over #6 Bowdoin College. Bowdoin is responsible for the one in-conference loss the Ephs suffered this season.

Doubles got things started against Babson with a 3-0 sweep. Alex Stone '16 and Mia Gancayco '18 finished first, securing the win 8-3. Juli Raventos '18 and Linda Shin '18 finished the sweep with a win of their own, 8-4.

The Ephs took this momentum into singles, going 6-0. Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio '18 got things started with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Babson first-year Chloe Brandt. Leah Bush '19, Stone, Korina Neveux '19, and Hannah Atkinson '17 all followed with wins in two sets. The last match to finish in the meet was a battle between Gancayco and sophomore Yagmur Akgul. Gancayco eventually came out on top 7-6(3), 7-5.

Later in the day, doubles went undefeated once again, this time against Tufts in the second match the Ephs played. Julia Cancio '18 and Atkinson finished first, dispatching their opponents 8-2. Teams of Raventos and Shin as well as Maya Hart '16 and McDonnel Nieto del Rio followed with wins.

Cancio followed up her win in doubles with a singles victory before Tufts battled back with their first win of the day. Jumbo Mina Karamercan overcame Gancayco to bring the overall score to 4-1. The next match to finish, however, was Shin's 6-3, 6-0 victory to clinch the match victory. Raventos and Bush won their respective matches while Atkinson was defeated in hers to bring the final score to 7-2.

"Today was a very fun day of tennis," said head coach Alison Swain. "The team put into practice the things we wanted to control in how we competed. I'm very proud of the team and their commitment to improving the little things to put us at our best."

The NESCAC Championships will be hosted by Bates this year, and will begin on May 6^th.