On Oct. 8, the Lord Jeffs travelled to Maine to take on Bates and Bowdoin in an unusual morning-afternoon double-header. Rust from the down-time was nowhere to be found as Amherst completely trounced both opponents, dominating Bowdoin 8-1 and sweeping Bates 9-0.
"We were a little tight to start off," said Co-captain Carolyn Pastel '01, "But soon we relaxed and all concentrated on playing well."
Against Bowdoin, number-one singles player and Co-captain Jamie Cohen '01 took her match easily, 6-2, 6-2. Pairing with Paige Lawrence '03 earlier in the day, the two cruised to an easy doubles win, 8-2. Lawrence went on to win her singles match, slipping behind early but winning the final two sets decisively 6-0, 6-0.
Playing second singles, Susanna Burke '03 also fell behind her Bowdoin opponent after the first game, but she regained her form and stormed back to win the match. She wrapped the match up in dominant fashion, taking the match 6-1, 6-1.
In doubles play, she paired with Pastel and the two coasted to win 8-1. Pastel also won her singles match (playing number-three) in perhaps the hardest fought match of the morning. Both sets of the match went to the tie-break, but Pastel emerged victorious.
Also winning in singles play was Stephanie Fong '02, playing well and taking her match 6-2, 6-0. She and teammate Heather Cole '02 comprised the third doubles team, and won their match 8-5.
The Jeffs' success continued into the afternoon against Bates. The obviously overmatched hosts couldn't take more than three games in any one set against the Amherst women and were shut out in three of the nine matches.
The lineup didn't change from the morning match: Cohen, Burke, Pastel, Fong, Cole and Lawrence, with the same doubles pairings also remaining the same.
But these matches were only a warmup for this past Saturday, when Amherst played host to NESCAC rival Williams College.
"Saturday will be a tough day of tennis," Pastel said prior to the match, "but I think we are ready mentally and physically."
In typical Williams fashion, "on paper [Williams] thought they should win," said Amherst coach Jackie Bagwell. Fortunately, tennis is not played on paper.
The Lord Jeffs started the day out right, taking both number-one and number-three doubles, 8-5. From there Amherst had to win only three of the six singles matches for the overall victory-but why stop there?
The first to finish her singles match, Burke had another commanding win, 6-2, 6-0. The score stood 3-1, Amherst. Lawrence, next took her match 6-2, 6-1. 4-1.
The Jeffs needed only one of the remaining four matches in order to claim victory. They got three. Cohen, Cole and Pastel all eventually won their matches, sealing the decisive defeat of Williams, 7-2.
Bagwell was pleased with the results, which she attributed to the team's talent and training. "We were playing well going into the match, and now our hard work has paid off," she said.
The team will wrap up its fall season with a 26 team Division III tournament this coming weekend.
According to Bagwell, Amherst and Williams, are favorites to win the tournament. However, she recognized that difficulties still lie ahead. "It will be a tough one, [since] they will all come to play and there are no easy victories." she said. "We still need to play well to win."