Williamstown, MA- The Williams women's tennis team faced chilly and windy conditions for their match at home against the Panthers. Returning from their spring break trip, the Ephs encountered a challenging match, ultimately losing narrowly 5-4.
In doubles,
Margaux Molyneux and
Ahn Lin were the first to finish at #3 doubles. While many of the points consisted of long rallies with great net play from both sides, the pair ended up losing 8-3.Â
Erica Ekstrand and
Yuu Ishikawa got off to a strong start at #1. The pair continues to find their groove and looked to be completely in-sync today. With a decisive 8-4 win, they put the first point on the board for the Ephs.
Annabelle Siegel and
Jane Ladaga went toe to toe with their opponents at #2 doubles. The pair led the match up until 4-4 where a long deuce point did not go their way. After going down 7-4, they continued to fight and brought it back to 7-6, but fell just short with a final score of 8-6.
With the Ephs trailing 2-1 after doubles, they needed victories in four out of six singles matches to win. However, losses by Siegel and
Mia Thomann at #3 and #4 singles increased Middlebury's lead to 4-1. Despite the seemingly lopsided score lin at that point, every court continued to give it their all. At #1 singles, Ekstrand found her game today. She managed to get a seasoned opponent out of her comfort zone by dictating points with her aggressive play. Ekstrand won 6-4, 6-3 to put the dual match score at 4-2.
Shortly after, Ladaga pulled out a gritty win at #5 singles to bring the score to 4-3. After winning a close first set, the second set only got harder as her opponent did not let up. After going down 5-6, Ladaga fought to get it back to 6-6 and won the tiebreaker in dominating fashion by continuing to build points and come to net despite nerves.
Yuu Ishikawa dropped the first set at #2 singles 6-3. After adjusting her strategy and settling in, nobody would have known she was down as she proceeded to decisively win the next two sets 6-1, 6-2. The score was 4-4 and all came down to
Ananya Aggarwal at #6 singles. After Ishikawa's win, Aggarwal was just starting her third set. She had won the first set 6-4, but lost the second set 6-4 after coming back from an 3-0 deficit. The match up until this point had been extremely long, with each point lasting at least 20 balls. With her team behind her, Aggarwal gave it everything had she left. Despite fighting hard, she fell in the third set 6-1.
It was a tough match for the Ephs, but this only serves as motivation going forward. Eph head coach Anik Cepeda commented, "We need more urgency and positivity in practice and in our matches. We're going to keep working on it, make some tweaks, and figure it out. That's what we're about this year — puzzling through. Great fight from our singles to come back from 4-1 down to tie it up at 4-4. We'll take a few days to rest and recover and then get after it in practice." The Ephs will next face Connecticut College in New London, Conn. on April 6 at 10 AM ET.Â
