The last meeting between UMass and Amherst resulted in a close 5-4 loss for the Jeffs. A year later, the women hoped for a different result. Rain and darkness cut short play on Tuesday, and when the match continued the next day, the Amherst squad found themselves down 4-2 to the Division I Minutemen.
The women fought hard but in the end could not pull it off, eventually losing 6-3. Two of the three wins came from the number one and number three doubles teams.
The match was played with the same intensity as any league contest. "The match is taken just as seriously as the others," said Co-captain Jamie Cohen '01. "We always want to win."
The bright side of the match was the return of Susanna Burke '03 from injury, who moved up to the number two spot after playing at four last season. "She was up to the challenge and proved that during this match," said Bagwell. "Her return makes us a stronger team."
With a reorganized lineup, the women were out for victory when Wesleyan arrived in town on Friday. Currently, Stephanie Fong '02 plays at the three singles spot, followed by Co-captain Carolyn Pastel '01 and Heather Cole '02 at four and five, respectively.
Though they have enjoyed much success versus Wesleyan in recent years (winning 8-1 last spring,) the Jeffs did not underestimate their foe. "They beat Trinity 6-3 and also won against Bowdoin, which is supposed to be a strong team, so they have some talent," said Bagwell.
But mere talent was just not enough to stop the Amherst women, who rolled to a dominating 9-0 sweep. Amherst got off to a strong start by taking all three doubles matches. "
This surprised Wesleyan," said Bagwell, "They expected to get one or two [of the doubles matches]."
Amherst went on to victories in four of the singles matches. Two of the contests were more hard fought, both going to three sets but with the same result-a win for the Jeffs. Winning for Amherst were Burke, Cohen, Cole, Fong, Pastel, and Paige Lawrence '03.
Next up for Amherst is the Rolex Individual Tournament, this year held at Brandeis University. Roopali Agarwal '03, Burke and Wallis Molchen '04 will compete. Burke reached the finals of the tourney last year but lost to teammate Cohen, who will not play this year.
On Oct. 8, the Jeffs will be in Maine to take on Bowdoin College and Bates College.