Baltimore, MD- The Ephs took on the 7th ranked Johns Hopkins Blue Jays in the second round of the NCAA tournament. The Ephs put up a battle, having 3 match points to take the dual match, however, they fell just short.
In doubles, the Ephs came out swinging. Despite the new pair of
Ananya Aggarwal and
Mia Thomann losing at #3 doubles 8-2, #1 and #2 doubles took care of business.
Jane Ladaga and
Annabelle Siegel broke down their opponents early in the match by putting pressure on them from both the baseline and net. With a 8-4 win, they put the first point on the board for the Ephs.
Erica Ekstrand and
Yuu Ishikawa pulled out a close match at #1 doubles against a talented team. Games were going back and forth, but the two managed to double flip at 6-6 to win 8-6.
Heading into singles up 2-1, the Ephs felt good, yet they knew every court was going to be a battle. Siegel and Thomann fell on courts #3 and #5, but
Ananya Aggarwal zoomed to a finish to tie it for the Ephs. Using her unmatched defensive skills and angles, she took care of her match handily 6-1, 6-1.
With a dual match score of 3-3, tensions were high with the 3 remaining courts having split sets. After winning the first set 7-5 on court #6,
Margaux Molyneux lost the second set 6-2. Yet, she came out swinging in the third set. This paid off as Molyneux won a few crucial deuce points to take the match 6-4. On court #2, despite losing the first 6-3, Ishikawa bounced back to take a close second set 6-4. While she continued to play aggressively, her opponent stepped up her game to take the third 6-3. It all came down to
Erica Ekstrand on court #1, with the dual match score tied at 4-4. After playing some flawless tennis to win the first set 6-3, Ekstrand lost the second set 6-1. She started off the third set strong, roaring to a 5-3 lead. Unfortunately, with a few unlucky points and solid play from her opponent, Ekstrand fell in a breaker 7-6.
Since this was post-season play, this marks the end of the season for the Ephs. Eph head coach
Anik Cepeda commented, "We got the 2-1 lead heading into singles and had a chance to advance. We were really close. It was a heart breaker. I'm proud of the work the players put into becoming a team. They had to figure out a lot as a group this season. Shout out to the seniors for pouring their hearts into today's match and for the last four years of memories. The future is bright. We'll take a few days to recover and focus on the individual tournament."
Erica Ekstrand and
Yuu Ishikawa will head to St Louis to compete in the NCAA individual tournament starting on May 25th.
