This past weekend, the women’s tennis team packed its bags and traveled to Williamstown, Mass. and Clinton, N.Y. to take on NESCAC rivals Williams and Hamilton Colleges. On Saturday, April 12, the Ephs, ranked #1 in the conference, aced the Cardinals 8-1. While victory was out of reach, the team recognized the skills of its opponents going into the match.
“They are pretty solid from 1-6 singles,” said Alex Sirois ’09. “Their #1 doubles won nationals last year. They are tough we wanted to get as many wins as we could. We are inching closer every year.”
The team learned a few things, however, from the near sweep.
“Our returns need a lot of improvement,” Sirois said. “Returning tough serves can be difficult but it is something we need to get better at if we are going to beat teams like Bowdoin, Amherst and Williams.”
The only players who saw a little glory were Ania Preneta ’09 and Lizzie Collector ’09 at third doubles with an 8-4 win over Williams. This was a surprise and a delight for the rest of the team, who was skeptical of gaining any wins on Saturday.
“It was a huge win,” said Anika Fischer ’10. “This shows the improvement in our doubles teams. We weren’t expected to win the match so any game that we won was a great accomplishment.”
The skirted birds took their vengeance on the Hamilton Continentals on Sunday, April 13, cutting the day early after winning five out of the first six match-ups. The teams agreed to end the match after one had reached five games due to the condition of the courts.
“Not only were we playing indoors, but on a wooden surface,” Fischer said. “We weren’t used to it which meant that Hamilton had the advantage. They also only had four courts so we needed to cut it early in order to be back by midnight.”
The Cards quickly accomplished that goal after taking the lead in the first three rounds of doubles. Madalina Ursu ’09 and Fischer triumphed in the first doubles 8-4, Sirois and Linda McDougal ’11 at second doubles (8-4), and in the third seat were Preneta and Collector with 8-6. After the strong start, the first four singles players took the courts.
Preneta took the first singles (6-2, 6-3), followed by Ursu at number four (6-0, 6-3). While Fischer was barely outmatched by her opponent, the rest of the matches were called off after Wes reached the five needed wins. Fischer credits the win to the strong doubles performance.
“The doubles made it a lot easier for us to get to five wins,” Fischer said. “The wins and losses in doubles have proven critical for the past two matches. Against Hamilton, it really provided us a comfort zone.”
Although the Cards lost to Williams, the win against Hamilton left the team in high spirits and with a positive attitude going into the match against NESCAC opponent Bates College.
“Bates is nowhere near the level of Williams and we are in a great position to play them coming off of a win like Sunday’s,” Fischer said.
Looking ahead, the Cards still have a very good chance of making it into the NESCAC tournament. Currently Wes is tied with Trinity to enter NESCACs in the seventh spot. However, having beaten Trinity, the Cards win the tie-breaker. Furthermore, Trinity is expected to lose against Amherst on Friday, followed by Tufts on Saturday, while Wes is more optimistic about the results of Bates.
“The only matches that we lost last year to Bates were our doubles, which is something that’s improved most this year,” Sirois said. “While it will still be a challenge, we have a pretty good chance of winning.”
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