Cary Gibson/Nikki Reich Finish Second in Middlebury Doubles Tournament
Nikki Reich '11
MIDDLEBURY, VT – Eph women’s doubles teams continued to play well on the second day of competition at the Gail Smith Doubles Tournament held by Middlebury College. Cary Gibson and Nikki Reich finished in second place, and Kristin Alotta and Taylor French finished the tournament undefeated.
The day opened with the conclusion of the main draw where the Ephs had Gibson/Reich playing in the semifinals. They went up against the team of Tori Aiello/Anna Burke of host Middlebury. The Eph duo easily overcame their rookie opponents 8-1 to make it into the finals. There, they saw familiar faces Brittany Berckes and Natasha Brown of Amherst. Gibson defeated Berckes in a three set match in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament last fall. Berckes is a two-time defending NCAA doubles champion. With new partner Brown, Berckes failed to make it past the quarterfinal round in the ITA tournament last weekend. Today, characteristic of Williams and Amherst match-ups, the score was close with the Lord Jeff pair coming away with an 8-6 win and first place in the tournament.
A particularly bright aspect of the weekend was the performance of first-years Taylor French and Kristin Alotta. Though the two did not make the main draw due to a technical tiebreak, they did not lose a match on the weekend. They overwhelmed strong opponents from NESCAC rivals Amherst and Middlebury along the way.
The Ephs were also able to go nearly undefeated in consolation play. Notable wins include Annie Hancock and Ashley Parson’s 8-6 voctory over the Middlebury team of Chandra Kurien/Clare Burke.
The Ephs travel to rival Amherst this Saturday. Play starts at 11am.
| Semifinals | |
| Cary Gibson/Nikki Reich (W) def. Tori Aiello/Anna Burke (Midd) | 8-1 |
| Finals | |
| Brittany Berckes/Natasha Brown (Amherst) def. Cary Gibson/Nikki Reich (W) | 8-6 |
| Consolations, Round 1 | |
| Caroline Capute/Genny Loomis (W) def. Jessica Bender/Andrea Soriano (Conn) | 8-1 |
| Taylor French/Kristin Alotta (W) def. Amelia Bell/Laken King (Amherst) | 8-5 |
| Sarah D'Elia/Emily Lombardi (Bowdoin) def. Katie Friedman (W)/Katie Pritchard (Tufts) | 8-2 |
| Ashley Parsons/Annie Hancock (W) def. Chandra Kurien/Clare Burke (Midd) | 8-6 |
| Consolations, Round 2 | |
| Caroline Capute/Genny Loomis (W) def. Laura Hoguet/Nathalie Shils (Tufts) | 8-1 |
| Taylor French/Kristin Alotta (W) def. Watson/DeGroot (Open) | 8-4 |
| Katie Friedman (W)/Katie Pritchard (Tufts) def. Alyssa Puccinelli/Alexandra Guynn (Midd) | 8-3 |
| Ashley Parsons/Annie Hancock (W) def. Amelia Bell/Laken King (Amherst) | 8-4 |
