Ephs Give Strong Performance in Day 1 of ITAs
CAMBRIDGE, MA - The Williams women's tennis team turned heads in their first performance of the year, looking strong out of the gates in day one of Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) competition. Four of six individual players have made it to the round of 16, and all three doubles pairs have gone on the the quarter finals.
Williams Coach Allison Swain was pleased with her team's performance, noting, "It's exciting that we're starting so strong and competitive. It really shows the depth of the team."
Williams junior Cary Gibson was the Ephs' highest seed going in singles play, ranked second only to Amherst's Alicia Menezes. In the round of 64 Gibson topped Catherine Teague of Wheaton 6-2, 6-3, then went on to shut out Middlebury's Amy Berkman 6-0, 6-0. Also seeded for Williams was sophomore Grace Baljon, ranked number four. Baljon looked strong, topping Julie Achenbaum of Colby and Brenna Driscoll of Tufts 6-0, 6-0 and 6-0, 6-1, respectively.
Williams first-years Nikki Reich and Lucy Marchese both moved on to the round of 32. Reich's opponent, Liz Denys of MIT, defaulted in the first set to allow Reich to move on. Marchese fell in the round of 32 to Amherst's Brittany Berckes, 6-2, 7-5.
Senior Allie Rottkamp fell to eighth ranked Claire Smyser of Middlebury in the round of 64, but advanced in the consolation round. Also competing for Williams was sophomore Ashley Parsons, who dropped her match in the round of 64 to Natasha Brown of Amherst by a score of 6-1, 6-4. Parsons was then eliminated in the consolation round, by a score of 6-4, 6-4.
In the doubles round of 32 third seeds Baljon and Gibson topped Davis and Waldman of Bowdoin 8-2. The Williams duo went on to top Donnelly and Rosman on Brandeis 8-2. Marchese and Schneidman, also ranked (5-8), topped Fiumefreddo and Lydecker of Smith 8-2 in the first round. They then defeated Grissa and Piacquad of Bates, 8-2. Reich and Rottkamp also moved on to the quarter finals, handily defeating ranked opponents Driscoll and Williams of Trinity 8-3, and Achenbaum and Jacobsen by a score of 8-0.
Looking forward to tomorrow, Swain said, "It's going to be tough to play two rounds of singles and two rounds of doubles tomorrow, but the girls are excited. The fact that we have all three doubles teams moving on to the quarter-finals is really excellent."
