KALAMAZOO, MI. — The Williams College women's tennis team wanted another shot at conference rival Bowdoin, and it made the most of its opportunity Tuesday, blanking the Polar Bears 5-0 in a NCAA Div. III national semifinal.
The win was the Ephs (22-3) ninth straight and vaulted them into the national championship match against Emory (27-5) Wednesday at 3 p.m. The Ephs, the defending national champions, will be playing for their 10th national title while the Eagles will be playing for their seventh overall.
Since 2001, Williams and Emory have combined to win 14 of the 15 national titles at NCAA Div. III. Only Washington & Lee in 2007 has interrupted that streak. Emory and Williams have met four times in the national title match, with Williams winning all four (2002, 2010, 2013, and 2015). Last year the Ephs edged the Eagles, 5-4.
On April 23rd, Williams dropped a 6-3 decision to Bowdoin in Maine. That was the Ephs' first loss to Bowdoin in 29 matches, dating back to 1994-95 when the series began.
Tuesday, the Ephs took command of the rematch early, sweeping all three doubles points from the Polar Bears.
"Our doubles today showed just how much this team has improved in a month," Ephs' head coach Alison Swain said. "I'm incredibly proud of them for all the work they have put in as a team and individually this season."
Juli Raventos and Linda Shin, the defending Div. III national champions in doubles, roared out to an early lead and never looked back, taking their one doubles match versus Tiffany Cheng and Joulia Likhanskaia 8-2.
The third doubles team of Maya Hart and Giulia McDonnell Nieto was next off the court, taking a 6-4 lead, dropping the next game to go to 6-5and then winning the final two games to take the match, 8-5. The Ephs' second doubles team of Hannah Atkinson and Julia Cancio doubled up their Bowdoin counterparts Pilar Giffenig and Kyra Silitch, 8-4, to complete the sweep.
The singles matches were incredibly competitive but ultimately the Ephs would preveil. All six Ephs won their first set, with three coming in tiebreakers.
"In singles, Bowdoin competed so well and our wins are a testament that, on any given day, every single one of our players is capable of stepping up under pressure."
At five singles, Atkinson faced Samantha Stalder and was up 4-1 in the first set before Stalder began a comeback, eventually knotting the match at 5 and 6 before the pair headed to the tiebreak. Down early in the breaker, Atkinson fought back to take it 7-5 and go up 1-0. She was down 2-0 in the second set before going winning three straight to go up 3-2. The set was tied 4-4 before Atkinson won the final two games to take her match 7-6(7-5), 6-4 and give the Ephs a 4-0 lead.
Second singles was equally exciting from a Williams viewpoint. Sophomore Mia Gancayco was down 4-1 to Cheng in the first set, but reeled of five consecutive games to win the set 6-4. In the second set, she dropped the first game to Cheng, then won five straight again to take a 5-1 lead. After dropping two games, she rebounded to put Cheng away, winning four of the five points to post a 6-4, 6-3 victory and hand her teammates the 5-0 decision.
The others singles matches went unfinished, but all were in play for the Ephs. At one singles, Raventos went down to Likhanskaia 3-0 and 4-1 in the first set, but rallied to take a 6-5 lead before the set headed into the breaker. Raventos went down 2-1 before rallying andthe pair traded points before Raventos eventually won the tiebreaker, 7-6. In the second set, she was up 5-2 when the match ended.
At three singles, Shin also battled into a tiebreaker. She was down 5-4 to Silitch before rallying to take a 6-5 lead. The pair went into the breaker, where Shin emerged an 7-6 victor to take the set 7-6. She was up 1-0 in the second set when the match ended.
At four singles, Julia Cancio won her first set 6-3 over Tess Trinka, dropped the second set 6-4 and was up 3-2 in the third when the match ended. At six singles, Leah Bush won the first set 6-2 over Sarah Shadowens, dropped the second set 7-5 and was up 3-1 in the third when the match ended.
Emory and Williams have met once this season, back on March 30th, with the Eagles taking a 5-4 victory in Atlanta. The Ephs are 7-1 against the Eagles lifetime in NCAA Tournament play.
Williams 5, Bowdoin 0
Doubles: Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
1 - Juli Raventos/Linda Shin (W) def. Tiffany Cheng/Joulia Likhanskaia (B) – 8-2
3 - Maya Hart/Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio (W) def. Samantha Stalder/Tess Trinka (B) - 8-5
2 - Julia Cancio/Hannah Atkinson (W) def. Pilar Giffenig/Kyra Silitch (B) – 8-4
Singles: Order of Finish: 5,2
1- Julia Raventos (W) did not play to decision against Joulia Likhanskaia (B) – 7-6(7-6), 5-2
2 - Mia Gancayco (W) defeated Tiffany Cheng (B) – 6-4, 6-3
3 - Linda Shin (W) and Kyra Silitch did not play to a decision – 7-6(7-6), 1-0
4 - Julia Cancio (W) and Tess Trinka (B) did not play to decision - 6-3, 4-6, 3-2
5 - Hannah Atkinson (W) defeated Samantha Stalder (B) – 7-6(7-5), 6-4
6 - Leah Bush (W) and Sarah Shadowens (B) did not play to decision – 6-2, 5-7, 3-1
