Lewiston, Maine - The Ephs lost another 4-3 heart breaker this time to the Bates Bobcats at Merrill Gymnasium Sunday afternoon.
The doubles pairings stayed the same from yesterday, once again securing the Ephs the doubles point. At #2, Mia Roets and Ahn Lin struggled to adjust and fell 6-1. In dominating fashion, Margaux Molyneux and Mia Thomann at #3 put the first win on the board for the Ephs with a score of 6-2. It all came down to #1 doubles, where Yuu Ishikawa and Jane Ladaga faced a fierce team. The two Ephs came out strong, going up 4-1 quickly, but their opponents fought back to get it to 4-4. Ladaga and Ishikawa gritted their way to a 6-4 victory, winning on a deciding deuce point after being down 40-15 in the game.
Heading into singles, the first matches to go out were #1, #2, #4 and #6. At #6, Ellie Stark fell 6-2, 6-3, despite battling back in the second set. At #2, Molyneux lost a close first set, but stormed back in the second, taking it 6-2. She ultimately fell just short in the third set. Julia Zhang was at #1 today and also fell short, after bringing the first set to a tiebreak after being down 4-1. With the overall match score at 3-1, the Ephs needed a win at #4 singles to stay in the match. Ladaga put up a very tough fight, but her opponent ended up taking the match 6-4 in the third set.
The match was decided when Thomann and Roets were in the middle of their first sets, they finished them out. Thomann, at #3, won her match 6-4, 6-4, winning 5 straight games to close it out after going down 4-1 in the second. At #5, Roets played tough to go 2-0 in singles this weekend, beating her Bates opponent handily with a score of 6-4, 6-2.
Despite this setback the Ephs are committed to learning from this match. Eph head coach Anik Cepeda said, "When we show up and commit to our strengths from the start of the match to the end, these 3-4s will turn around in our favor. This team has a lot of heart left to give this season."
The Ephs will head to California next week for their spring break trip. Their next NESCAC match up will take place in Claremont, California when they take on Colby College on March 26 on the campus of Pomona-Pitzer College at 12 PM PT.
Results:
Doubles:
Yuu Ishikawa/Jane Ladaga (WIL) def. Iris Westmoreland/Bella Saul (BTS), 6-4
Elise Hepburn/Olivia Gidlow (BTS) def. Ahn Lin/Mia Roets (WIL) 6-1
Mia Thomann/Margaux Molyneux (WIL) def. Ava Lyon/Elizabeth Frekko (BTS) 6-2
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles:
Iris Westmoreland (BTS) def. Julia Zhang (WIL), 7-6(4), 6-2
Bella Saul (BTS) def. Margaux Molyneux (WIL) 7-5, 2-6, 6-2
Mia Thomann (WIL) def. Elise Hepburn (BTS), 6-4, 6-4
Olivia Gidlow (BTS) def. Jane Ladaga (WIL), 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
Mia Roets (WIL) def. Elizabeth Frekko (BTS) 6-4, 6-2
Ava Lyon (BTS) def. Ellie Stark (WIL) 6-2, 6-3
Order of finish: 6, 2, 1, 4, 3, 5
