The competition was tough all around. Coach Jackie Bagwell said that Middlebury College and Tufts University are deep teams this year, so she was pleased to take second place and not disappointed by any of her tennis players. "The level of play has risen overall," said Raverta.
Raverta won her singles final 7-5, 5-7, 6-2. After a great first set, she was up 4-0 in the second set when she lost her focus. "I just had to refocus and step up," she said. "I played well when it counted." Once she started playing her best, Raverta emerged as the clear victor and third singles champion.
Raverta joined with Molchen in a thrilling third doubles final against the Middlebury team, who had just upset a pair from Williams in a close 9-8 match. The Jeffs were down 7-1 and a loss seemed imminent. "We were down not because they were better than us, but because we were not playing that well," Raverta clarified.
Molchen said that the match was her biggest comeback ever. "I don't really know how we came back, except we focused on each point and fought as hard as we could," she said.
They kept winning games until they won the final, 9-8, in a 7-3 tiebreaker. "We started to get momentum, and got the crowd behind us which helped tremendously," said Raverta.
"Both Wallis and Kristen showed great determination and confidence under extreme pressure," said Bagwell. It was the last match of the weekend, and while very tense, it was a huge victory.
Amherst sent four of six singles players and two of three doubles pairs to the finals. Despite the four losses, "Everyone showed that they had improved in the course of the season," said Tristan Hedrick '05. "Even the losses were good tennis. Everyone fought hard until the last point, adapting their game and searching for their opponent's weakness."
Rachel Holt '05 at first singles, Hadley Miller '06 in the fifth spot and Katie Hudson '07 at sixth, plus Holt and Hedrick at first doubles, were all defeated by the Ephs in the final round. Holt played against her rival Steph Hall, whom Holt had defeated in their two previous meetings this year. This time Hall was the victor, with 6-3, 6-2.
Holt made a truly valiant effort to get to the final with a comeback semifinal win over Brandeis University's Jane Chae, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
"Chae was in the driver's seat the whole way, but Rachel refused to give up, running down and returning balls it seemed impossible to get," said Bagwell.
Miller won a close semifinal match as well, against Lauren Ready of Middlebury. Although initially down and playing defensively, Miller turned the match around, winning 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-3.
Hudson also won her semifinal match in three sets against Kylyn Deary of Tufts. "We were well-matched," said Hudson. "The only reason I won was that I fought a little harder than she did in the end." The sixth singles flight competed at Mount Holyoke College, so Bagwell could not watch Hudson play. Lacking an assistant coach, she sent Erin Murphy '05. "[Murphy] did an excellent job of coaching" in a victory that helped Amherst finish ahead of Tufts, according to Bagwell.
Hedrick lost at second singles in the semifinals to eventual champion Caroline Tien of MIT. Molchen likewise was defeated by the fourth singles champion, Kate Troy of Williams, also in the semifinal.
With the fall season complete and the spring to look forward to, the team knows what they have to do over the winter. Molchen hopes that the disappointing parts of the weekend will give the team "a bigger incentive to push [them]selves and continue to work hard so that [they] can have a strong spring." Miller concurred, "Hopefully the spring will bring domination for us again."