Waterville, ME- The Ephs took on the Colby Mules on a beautiful Saturday morning in Maine. Due to resurfacing of the Colby tennis center, the match was played at the local high school.
The Ephs started off strong in doubles with
Yuu Ishikawa and
Erica Ekstrand dominating their opponents with touch volleys and powerful baseline play. They won 8-2 at #1 doubles.
Annabelle Siegel and
Jane Ladaga played many long points and eventually broke to go up 6-3. While the Colby team was able to regroup, Ladaga and Siegel stayed strong to win 8-6.
Mia Thomann and
Ahn Lin were neck and neck with their opponents at #2 doubles. While they were down most of the match, they broke to go up 7-6. Unfortunately, they fell 7-4 in the tiebreaker.
The Ephs headed into singles with a burst of energy as lines 1, 2, 3 and 5 went on to play their matches. At #5,
Ananya Aggarwal masterfully moved her opponent around the court, coming into finish long points with beautiful net play. She did not waste time and was off the court with a score of 6-3, 6-0.
Erica Ekstrand followed shortly after at #1 singles. Despite playing a fiery opponent, Ekstrand held her ground and nerve to win 6-2, 6-1.
Yuu Ishikawa, at #2 singles, combined her trademark aggressiveness with stunning defense to leave her opponent stunned with a score of 6-1, 6-3.
Annabelle Siegel played an extremely gritty opponent at #3 singles. After comfortably winning the first set, the second set was a battle. Although she fought back down 3-0, the Mule player took the set 6-4. However, Siegel showed her resilience in the third set hitting many winners to take it 6-4.
Mia Thomann and
Margaux Molyneux were next to go on, at #4 and #6 singles. Molyneux played efficient tennis to defeat her opponent in under an hour with a score of 6-1, 6-3. Thomann was last to finish with a match full of ups and downs. After dropping the first set 6-2, she regained her footing to go up 4-1 in the second. However, her opponent fought back to tie the set at 4-4. Under much pressure, Thomann hit a forehand winner to take that game and then the set 6-4. After some unlucky bounces saw her down 5-1 in the match tieback, she stormed back taking 9 out of the next 10 points to win 10-6.
Eph head coach
Anik Cepeda commented, "Today was an awesome match for us. We were competitive during important moments. We stayed composed and fought back within games. We were loud and supported one another throughout the match. Tomorrow will be an even tougher test — we'll need to behave with belief at all moments and lock in for each other regardless of the score."
The Ephs will be back in action tomorrow at Bowdoin for their last regular season match.
