Bennington, VT - Williams women's tennis made their spring season debut today, going head-to-head in a non-conference battle against the Vassar Brewers. The Brewers put up a spirited and crafty fight across all courts, yet the Ephs had great energy throughout to secure a 5-2 win.
A quick update on scoring: Division 3 has decided to adopt the Division 1 match format. Consequently, all doubles matches will now be played to one set instead of a pro-set. Additionally, the scoring for doubles will be cumulative, with 1 point awarded to the team that wins 2 out of 3 matches, rather than assigning a point to each doubles match.
In doubles, the Ephs managed to leverage this new scoring format. The #3 doubles pair, Ahn Lin and Mia Thomann, made quick work of an unconventional Vassar team, winning 6-0. However, the battles on courts #1 and #2 were much closer. At #2, Jane Ladaga and Julia Zhang initially led 3-0, but their opponents raised their level and managed to tie it at 5-5. Despite some great points, Ladaga and Zhang narrowly lost 5-7. On court #1, Mia Roets and Yuu Ishikawa, an unexpected duo with little prior experience together, proved to work together well. With Roets tracking down balls at the baseline and Ishikawa finishing at the net, they eked out a tough 7-5 victory to secure the doubles point for the Ephs.
Transitioning into singles, lines #1, #3, and #4 were first to compete. At #1 singles, Ishikawa faced a tough opponent and, hampered by an injury, had to retire mid-second set. First Year Ellie Stark, making her dual match debut at #4, found herself in several long rallies and crafted some impressive points, yet fell 2-6, 3-6. With the overall match score at 1-2, Thomann equalized the score with a solid 6-2, 7-5 win at #3 singles, boosting the team's morale. Roets then delivered a near-perfect performance at #6, overcoming a tricky opponent 6-1, 6-0. With the dual match hanging in the balance, all eyes were on Zhang and Ladaga at #2 and #5 singles, respectively. Zhang's first set was a tight affair. After gaining an early lead, she found herself at 5-5 but managed to close it out 7-5. Concurrently, Ladaga, after dropping her first set 1-6, switched up her strategy against a hard-hitting opponent and took an early lead in the second set. Zhang maintained her composure early in the second set, exchanging games until breaking away with a 5-2 lead. In a crucial moment, Ladaga split sets with a 6-3 win, easing the pressure on Zhang, who then held her nerve to clinch the match for the Ephs. Even after the match was secured, the Ephs rallied around Ladaga to get her through a nail-biting third set tiebreaker. Starting down, she fought back to earn a match point at 9-8. After trading match points with her opponent, Ladaga finally sealed it at 13-11!
This gritty 5-2 win is a promising start to the season for the Ephs. Eph head coach Anik Cepeda commented, "Today was a great opening day. Coach Dorr and I could not be more excited to see what this squad can accomplish. They were clearly excited to be competing together — we'll get back to work this week and bring our best to our NESCAC opener against Amherst next weekend!"
The Ephs are looking to build on this positive momentum as they begin NESCAC play with a two-match road trip next weekend, facing Amherst on Saturday and Hamilton on Sunday.
Results:
Ishikawa/Roets def. McCusker/Kirby 7-5
Dowd/Li def. Zhang/Ladaga 7-5
Lin/Thomann def. Krishnan/Duley 6-0
McCusker def. Ishikawa 7-5, 3-0 (ret.)
Zhang def. Li 7-5, 6-3
Thomann def. Dowd, 6-2, 7-5
Lee def. Stark, 6-2, 6-3
Ladaga def. Kirby, 1-6, 6-3, 13-11
Roets def. Krishnan, 6-1, 6-0
