Both Jeffs faced tough draws in opening-round play. Harmeling shared the court with Trinity College's Amina Helal, the top-seeded player in the tournament. Courageous play allowed Harmeling to take a few points, but in the end she was overmatched and fell in three straight (9-4, 9-5, 9-2).
"To get that many points off the defending national champ is really incredible," said Shannon, who was impressed by her teammate's show of determination.
Helal went on to the championship match only to be upset by second-ranked Michelle Quibell of Yale University. Shannon also faced a heavily favored opponent in first round action in the form of Williams College's Claire Whipple, the top seed in the Hollerhan division. Shannon succumbed to the dominating play of the higher seed in three games (9-1, 9-0, 9-0). Whipple dropped only one game en route to taking the division title.
After their first-round losses, Harmeling and Shannon entered the consolation brackets of their respective divisions where they had more success. Harmeling faced Harvard's Lydia Williams, the 19th-ranked player in the country, in her first consolation-round match.
"Lydia [Williams] has a really strong forehand and great ball control so Ashley [Harmeling] had to work really hard to keep the ball on her backhand and stay in the front of the court," Shannon noted.
The hard work paid off as Harmeling traded wins with her opponent before overcoming Williams in the rubber game (10-8, 2-9, 9-7, 8-10, 9-3).
"It was [Harmeling's] first five-gamer this season and she just had the tenacity and athleticism and determination to win," said Shannon.
Shannon took on Bowdoin College's Eileen Schneider and won in less thrilling but more dominating fashion, building on each margin of victory in three straight wins (10-9, 9-5, 9-1). The shutout win showed improvement from their two regular-season contests, which Shannon had won in four games rather than three.
Unfortunately, neither Jeff earned a victory in her quarterfinal matchup. Harmeling lost in three straight to Yale's Rachita Vora (9-3, 9-1, 9-4) and Shannon fell to Bowdoin Polar Bear Katie Irving (9-0, 9-2, 9-1) as Irving avenged teammate Schneider's earlier loss. Irving played in Bowdoin's second spot all season, while Shannon had played on Amherst's third court.
"We had a really competitive match that went back and forth a lot," said Shannon. "The reason that match wasn't closer was because I was just missing my kill shots," she added, referring to drop shots. "It was a good way to end a great season."
This fine pair of individual performances comes at the conclusion of an excellent season for the entire team. The women finished 10th in the country, their best finish in recent memory. In her second season manning Amherst's top court, Harmeling compiled 19 individual match victories. In only her first season of collegiate play, Shannon earned 17 individual match victories playing third for the Jeffs.