Ephs Conclude Fall Season on High Note

Holyoke, MA – After a strong fall season, which included an individual regional championship in singles, a runner-up finish in doubles, and a 2-1 record in match play, the Ephs concluded their season today with another title in Holyoke.  Caroline Capute ’12 and Veranika Li ’13 won a pair of matches to claim the championship of the B-draw at the New England women’s intercollegiate tennis tournament.

Capute and Li won once Friday and twice Saturday to advance to the semifinals played this morning.  In the semis, the pair defeated a pair of sophomores in Alyssa Puccinelli and Alexandra Guynn of Middlebury 3-0.  In the finals, Capute and Li helped avenge the Ephs’ lone loss of the fall by upsetting Kate Paul and Jennifer Kim of archrival Amherst.  By winning 3-0 in the final, the pair concluded a perfect tournament in which they did not lose a single match.  Head Coach Allison Swain was excited by the performance of the two underclassmen: “I’m really proud of Caroline and Veranika.  They played strong tennis throughout the weekend and proved to be tremendous competitors.”  She also noted that Genny Loomis ’11 and Kristin Alotta ’12 won the B-draw last year and went on to have great spring seasons.

While none of the Williams teams in the A-draw reached the semifinals, Swain still considered the tournament a success: “We played a lot of tough matches, which should make us stronger in the spring.” 

Senior captain Grace Baljon was honored at the tournament as the recipient of the Lindsay Morehouse Award for exemplifying the qualities of character, fair play, hard work, and friendship that Lindsay brought to the tennis court.  The award is voted on by teams and given to one senior from the approximately 20 participating schools each year at NEWITTs. Lindsay Morehouse was a Williams tennis player who graduated in 2000 and was killed on 9/11 in the World Trade Center.