The women’s tennis team concluded its fall season this past weekend at the New England Division III Tournament. Hosted by Amherst College, the Cardinals saw three of their nine players advance to the quarterfinals. Alex Sirois ’09, playing in the sixth singles bracket, won her first two matches in commanding fashion, 6-0, 6-3, over Smith’s Alanna Dick in the first round and a 6-2, 6-0 defeat of Wheaton’s Mallory Farmer in the second. In the quarters, Sirois fell 0-6, 2-6 to Bowdoin’s Rachel Waldman.
Sirois also advanced to the final eight in the doubles bracket with partner Ania Preneta ’09 after defeating Wellesley’s Jane Booth-Tobin and Marika Hayashi 8-2 but eventually fell to Jennifer Quyang and Jill Wexler from Amherst, 2-8.
“This NEWITT tournament was definitely my best so far,” Sirois said. “I was being aggressive at the net, and utilized my serve and volley game when I had the opportunities. My second match was more of the same, though the competition was a bit tougher. Though I was forced to keep the ball in play longer, my serve and volleys took care of the rest.”
The third match against Bowdoin’s sixth singles player, however, proved to be more of a challenge. Against a player with a similar playing style, Sirois was unable to win more than two games during the entire match.
“My third match against Bowdoin was a different story,” Sirois explained. “I played my clone and she beat me using my game, which really threw me for a loop during the first set. The score in each game was close, but on crucial points I had trouble converting.”
Playing an opponent with a playing style that Sirois is familiar with should provide her with an advantage in her spring matches.
“It was cool to play a player with my game,” Sirois said. “It has given me some insight on how to beat those players in the future.”
In doubles competition in the fall, Sirois and Preneta developed key chemistry at the third doubles position, and have been the most reliable doubles team in the lineup during the season. Unfortunately for the sophomore doubles pair, the Amherst doubles team proved to be too strong as they managed to win only two games in the eight game pro set.
“Ania and I usually start off slow, usually either down 1-2 or up 2-1, but after that we turn the heat on and usually don’t allow our opponents another game. Against Amherst, we started off slow, which was usual, but we couldn’t get into a groove,” Sirois said.
In the fourth singles bracket, Emily Fish ’09 enjoyed a first round bye, winning her first match 6-2, 6-4 over Williams’ eccentric Annie Hancock, who was the second seed in the bracket, before suffering a 5-7, 2-6 defeat to Babson’s Heather Walsh.
The remaining Cardinals in the singles bracket saw varied results from their heartfelt efforts. Top singles player Preneta lost in the first round to Middlebury’s Claire Smyser, 3-6, 4-6. Rachael Ghorbani ’09 faced a similar struggle, eventually coming up short, 1-6, 1-6, against MIT’s Mariah Hoover. Anika Fischer ’10 soundly handled Salve Regina’s Kristina Kennedy 6-1, 6-4 but was defeated in the second round 0-6, 7-5, 2-6 by Yi Wang, another MIT player. Team captain Tori Santoro ’07 suffered a difficult 0-6, 1-6 loss to Bowdoin’s Brett Davis.
With Mada Ursu ’09 missing from action, the Cardinals had to shuffle their doubles lineups. Because Ursu, who usually teams with Anika Fischer ’10 at the top doubles spot, is out of action, Fischer had to pair with Ghorbani, who normally plays second doubles with Emily Fish ’09. With Ghorbani playing first doubles, the freshman duo of Casey Simchick ’10 and Meredith Holmes ’10 competed together for the first time.
Fischer and Ghorbani easily defeated the Brandeis team of Ana Katz and Jenicka Homung 8-4 before losing 6-8 to Roger Williams University players Caitlyn Leone and Jessica Manners. At the second doubles spot, Holmes and Simchick fell short, 0-8, in their first round match over the Bowdoin duo of Sarah D’Elia and Kelsey Hughes.
The Cardinals closed the fall season with a dual match record of 2-3, having gone 1-1 in NESCAC play. They resume play in the spring.
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