Ephs defeat Mary Washington, 5-0, and head to Final Four

ST. PETER, Minnesota – Women’s tennis is into the Final Four, and one step closer to a national title.  Having reached the Final Four last year, the Ephs understand what level of competition they need to bring to every match in order to win against the top teams in the nation. 

Competing on the Gustavus Adolphus campus in Minnesota, Williams brought this toughness once again and defeated Mary Washington in their third consecutive 5-0 victory of this year’s championship tournament. 

“In doubles we fought very hard, and were pushed throughout,” said Williams’ head coach Alison Swain.  “We played very tough in the difficult points, and are very excited to be back to the final four tomorrow.  We are looking at taking it one match and point at a time from this point on in the tournament.” 

After securing a 3-0 lead following a quality doubles effort, Ashley Parsons and Nikki Reich took matters into their own hands and quickly took care of business in singles play.  At court three, Parsons took a 6-2 first set from Mary Washington’s Courtney Goimarac before dominating in the second set, 6-0. 

Reich took a break in the first set of her match at court four against Natalia Fugate to take a 6-4 first set lead.  Like Parsons, Reich really found a groove in the second and took a 6-1 second set to seal the match. 

In other quarterfinal action from this morning, Pomona-Pitzer (16-7) defeated Bowdoin (14-7), 5-3.  The Ephs will take on Pomona-Pitzer tomorrow at 9:00 am (CST).  The other two quarterfinal matches will be played at 2:00 this afternoon.  Emory and Denison will face off, while defending national champions and undefeated Washington and Lee (26-0) will compete against the host school of Gustavus Adolphus (24-8). 

Williams 5, Mary Washington 0

Doubles:

      1)    Cary Gibson/Annie Schneidman (W) def. Natalia Fugate/Rebecca Morse-Karzen (MW) --- 8-5

2)    Grace Baljon/Allie Rottkamp (W) def. Katherine Malpeli/Meg Lawlor (MW) --- 8-6

3)    Annie Hancock/Nikki Reich (W) def. Courtney Goimarac/Stephanie Kurdi (MW) --- 8-3

Singles:

      1)    Morse-Karzen (MW) led. Gibson (W) --- 7-5, 2-1 DNF

2)    Baljon (W) led. Kurdi (MW) – 6-0, 3-5 DNF

3)    Ashely Parsons (W) def. Goimarac (MW) --- 6-2, 6-0

4)    Reich (W) def. Fugate (MW) --- 6-4, 6-1

5)    Malpeli (MW) led. Rottkamp (W) --- 7-6(7-3), 2-2 DNF

      6)    Hancock (W) led Amy Sheetz (MW) --- 6-3, 5-0 DNF