If these past two weeks are any indication, the Jeffs will be a favorite to return to the Final Four after an absence last year, as they took a 6-3 win over Williams and then successfully defended their New England title against all-comers.
The Jeffs jumped out to an insurmountable 3-0 lead against Williams after a sweep of the doubles matches. While none of the matches were blowouts, the Jeffs were able to win the three matches relatively easily.
"By far, the doubles play was the biggest factor in our win," said co-captain Roopali Agarwal '03. "It set the tone going into singles play."
In singles, the Jeffs split with the Ephs, as three of the matches went the full three sets. Kristen Raverta '06 led the way for the Jeffs at the number one singles slot, taking a dominating 6-3, 6-0 win over Caroline Wasserman of Williams, their top player.
Rachel Holt '05 had a tougher time, as she took three sets to vanquish her foe, but her 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 win clinched the win for the Jeffs. Co-captain Paige Lawrence '03 took the final match win for the Jeffs in the fourth singles slot, as she rebounded from a 5-7 loss in the first set to trounce her opponent 6-0, 6-2 in the final and deciding frames.
"The Williams win was huge for us," said Agarwal. "It gave us great confidence going into New Englands, and it showed that our hard work on doubles paid off."
This past weekend, the women were even more impressive. The doubles play led the way again, as the team swept through the tournament and won all three flights. The top team of Holt and Tristan Hedrick '05 received a bye through the first round, and they were never challenged until the final, which they won 8-6.
In the second doubles flight, Raverta and Lawrence took a similar path en route to a win. In the third flight Erin Murphy '05 and Wallis Molchen '04 survived a scare in the second round, when they won in the tiebreak, but they breezed after that.
In singles play the Jeffs weren't able to come away with wins in all six flights, but their dominance was complete nonetheless. Raverta came away with the only win for the team, in number one singles, but two other Jeffs made the finals of their flight, with the other three falling in the semifinals.
Raverta, who has had an impressive freshman fall, breezed through the final, taking a 6-1, 6-2 win over Diana Goldman of Trinity College.
In the second doubles flight Holt fell to Stephanie Hall of Williams, whom she had beaten in three sets the weekend before. This time Hall was able to exact some revenge, taking home a tough three-set win. Lawrence was the third Jeff to reach the finals, where she fell in three sets to Katie Nordstrom of Tufts University.
The third, fifth and sixth singles slots told similar stories, as the Jeffs reached the semifinals in each case. Hedrick fell 7-6, (7-4), 7-5 in a hard fought semi. In the fifth slot Murphy fell 6-3, 6-1 to Kate Troy of Williams, after beating foes from Roger Williams University and Smith and Wellesley Colleges. Molchen rounded out the Jeffs singles play with a 0-6, 7-6, (8-6), 9-11 loss, her third three-match set of the tournament.
The win at the New Englands closed out the fall season for the Jeffs, but now their focus has shifted to the spring campaign. After last year's loss in the Elite Eight, when they failed to reach the Final Four for the first time in five years, the Jeffs are poised to make a return trip.