The weekend began with a solid 7-2 win over St. Lawrence University Saturday morning at Amherst's Davenport Courts. The Jeffs had psyched themselves up for a close match; St. Lawrence was ranked 12th in the nation, two positions back from Amherst. A skillful victory by co-captain Liz Martin '04 was the highlight of the match as the Amherst number two beat nationally-ranked Katia Stipinovich in just three games.
Martin's upset was just one of the elements that led to Amherst's win. "We thought St. Lawrence was going to be a closer match, but everyone really stepped up and really played at the top of their game," said co-captain Emily Stark '04, who also won her match against St. Lawrence playing in the sixth spot.
"I was especially impressed with Emily Stark's match as she has struggled a bit this season," said Head Coach Jackie Bagwell. "After being blown out in the first game, she came back and won her match in three. Liz Martin also played extremely well as did a sick Ali Gibbs."
Ashley Harmeling '05 won her match by default after cruising through the first game. "The big disappointment was Ashley Harmeling's match. Ashley, who had bounced back well after losses to Cornell and Brown, had her match defaulted due to her opponent's wrist injury. We were really disappointed because we were looking forward to seeing if Ashley would play as well as she has been in practice," said Bagwell.
The Jeffs only got better as the day went on, handing the Vassar College Brewers an 8-1 defeat.
Harmeling won in the number one spot in three games, giving her opponent just two points. Martin won in the second spot as well.
Harmeling and Martin were two of six Jeffs to go undefeated on the day. Ali Gibbs '05 did not drop a game in the four spot, while first-year Emily O'Brien played equally well at fifth. Tara Kenney '05 and Emily Zandy '07 were also perfect in the seven and eight spots, respectively.
The Jeffs' streak continued the next day as Amherst handed Haverford College and Tufts University 9-0 drubbings on the Smith College courts.
Lauren Coape-Arnold '06 scored her first victories of the season in the ninth spot against Haverford and Tufts.
First-years Caroline Shannon, O'Brien, Zandy and Abby Mantica also recorded two individual wins apiece on the day. "It's great to have the first-years mixed throughout the lineup," said Stark. "They really bring a lot of depth to the team."
The remainder of the regular season is crucial to Amherst's position in postseason play. "The team is upbeat about the rest of the season," said Bagwell. "I think they feel like they have a clear direction on what needs to be done to improve. After having matches all weekend, a couple of the players came back to practice on Sunday after playing Tufts and Haverford. That to me is a good sign that the team is green and growing."
With the season winding down to its final third, the players are confident and enthusiastic. After six straight wins, momentum is barreling clearly in Amherst's direction. Hopefully the Jeffs will continue to ride the streak.
Heading into the postseason Howe Cup tournament, the team is "looking forward to some rematches," said Stark. "We are hoping to see Cornell again because we had a close loss to them." Amherst fell to Cornell, 4-5, on Jan. 23.
The team, now 12-4, faces the challenge of third-ranked Yale University this evening. Yale recently upset number-one ranked Trinity College. This Saturday the Jeffs face Bowdoin and Bates Colleges on Amherst's home courts.
"Bates will be a very big match this weekend," said Bagwell. "It looks like now they will be the number-one seed in our flight of the Howe Cup. On paper to me they look a little deeper than us. It will be a good challenge, and hopefully the team will handle a win or defeat against them well as we still have a big part of the season left and the potential to improve."