The tournament kicked off on Feb. 10, and the Jeffs came out firing, beating Tufts University. Unfortunately, the next day they hit a wall when they played number-one seed Trinity College, the third-ranked team in the country. But they quickly got themselves back together to play Colby College.
Earlier in the semester the Jeffs used a narrow 5-4 victory over the White Mules to break a seven-game skid. This time, the game was an equally narrow scrape, but the Jeffs lost their advantage. As a result of the loss, the Jeffs were entered in the seventh-place game with Middlebury.
The last meeting with Middlebury was a gritty 5-4 Amherst loss, with five matches extending past three games.
This time, the competition was neater but no more fortuitous. Most matches rounded out in three games, but the Jeffs were unable to sway any more to their dominion.
In the previous match against the Panthers, number-one player junior Caroline Shannon had proved her mettle in three tough games. This time Shannon fell in three, 3-9, 4-9, 5-9.
Junior Emily O'Brien played the number-three spot in the original encounter, and won in three easy games. On Monday she was promoted to number two, and again she was able to pull out a great win. Though she dropped her third game, 5-9, she swept her Panther in the fourth to take the match for the Jeffs. Sophomore stand-out Libby Martin competed in the three spot, and won her match easily 9-2, 9-5, 9-1.
Junior Abby Mantica manned the four spot, which is one above her typical ranking. She won her first two games easily 9-3, 9-6, before losing concentration and dropping her third 5-9. "I let my opponent distract me and lost focus for the third game, and didn't go for the balls that I should have," she said. "In the forth game I pulled my act together and just played my game."
Luckily, Mantica's game proved to be superior to her Panther's, and the Jeff won easily 9-5. Senior co-captain Lauren Coape-Arnold played at the fifth spot, and lost in three. Di Kirkwood '08 followed suit at the number-six spot, as did senior Margo Nathan in eighth.
Co-captain Scotty Hanley '06 was able to steal a win at the number-seven spot with relative ease, 9-6, 9-3, 9-4. Newcomer sophomore Heather Nowak, lost despite a valiant five-game effort. After winning her first game 9-6, the match took a decided swing for the worse and appeared to be on its way to completion in the second and third game with respective 1-9, 2-9 scores. Nowak staged a heroic 10-8 comeback in the fourth stanza, only to fall in the fifth game, 4-9.
Next on Amherst's plate is the Howe Cup Team Championships at Harvard University. The team has been waiting for the payoff owed for a long season of hard work, and there couldn't be a more opportune time. The Jeffs would love a rematch against teams such as Colby and Middlebury who have been able to squeak by the Jeffs with narrow 5-4 victories.