On Sunday, the Jeffs defeated the visiting Panthers, 7-2, in a highly anticipated contest. Williams College may be Amherst's traditional archrival, but this year, Middlebury was the NESCAC team the Jeffs were most eager to beat. The Panthers finished the fall season ranked second in the Northeast behind the Jeffs and came to Amherst after losing a close match to defending National Champion Emory University over Spring Break.
Both Amherst and Middlebury understood that in such a competitive situation, the opening doubles matches would be critical in setting the tone for the rest of the afternoon, and all three were hotly contested.
Quad-captain seniors Rachel Holt and Tristan Hedrick were able to pull out a tough, 8-6 win in first doubles, while quad-captain Erin Murphy '05 and Laura Stein '08 teamed up at third doubles to secure an 8-6 victory of their own.
Unfortunately for the Jeffs, Kristen Raverta '06 and Katie Hudson '07, who rallied from a 1-5 deficit to take a 6-5 lead, dropped their final three games in the second doubles competition against a very potent Middlebury tandem.
Up 2-1 after the doubles, Amherst was in a commanding position heading into the singles portion of the competition.
Murphy, who recently played her way into Head Coach Jackie Bagwell's lineup, was the first Jeff off the court in singles. Murphy made quick work of her Panther opponent, Amy Berkman, 6-1, 6-1, in the sixth singles match. The win was particularly sweet for Murphy, since it was Berkman who bounced her from the second round of the ITA New England Regional tournament this past fall.
Hadley Miller '06 gave Amherst its fourth point with a convincing 6-4, 6-3 win in the fourth singles position.
The Jeffs clinched victory after Holt finished up a straight sets victory over Middlebury's top player, Claire Smyser.
Playing at third and fifth singles, respectively, both Raverta and Monica Snyder '08 emerged victorious. Snyder's victory over Emily Holick came after treating the Amherst faithful to three sets of tennis. "I was really excited about my win against Emily since she is a great player," said Snyder after the match.
After dropping the first set, 3-6, Raverta got tough and surrendered just one game over the course of the final two sets. Snyder, too, wore down her opponent as the match progressed. The talented first-year cruised through the third set en route to a 6-1, 2-6, 6-0 win.
Amy Roche was the lone Panther to find any success in singles. Playing at the second singles slot, Roche edged Hedrick, 6-3, 6-3.
After the match, the Jeffs took satisfaction not just in their victory, but also the convincing manner in which it was accomplished. "Our win against Middlebury was very important since they are regarded as a strong team," said Snyder. "By beating them by such a large margin we really demonstrated how solid we are this year."
The Jeffs were given further opportunity to demonstrate their prowess yesterday when they traveled to Tufts University to take on the fourth-ranked team in the Northeast. Unfortunately, snow flurries forced the women to reacquaint themselves with indoor tennis, but ultimately nothing could stop the Jeff juggernaut.
Once again, the duos of Holt-Hedrick and Murphy-Stein powered Amherst to a 2-1 lead heading into the singles. The Jeffs then won four of the six singles matches to ensure a 6-3 win over the Jumbos.
Saturday, Amherst returns home to take on Wellesley College. Wellesley is currently the third-ranked team in New England, so there should be some good tennis in store for those able to make the trek down to the lower Hitchcock courts this weekend.