After beginning the match outdoors, the weather quickly turned cold and rainy and after only brief starts in the doubles, the match was moved indoors. Because of Williams' reluctance to continue the match in the cage, the teams traveled 45 minutes to a tennis facility in Longmeadow, Mass. and warmed up again to resume the matches.
In first doubles, the tandem of senior tri-captain Kristen Raverta and sophomore Alicia Menezes played one of its best matches of the year. The duo played an aggressive style en route to an 8-6 victory. Constantly on the attack, Raverta and Menezes controlled the match with their net and service play.
At second doubles sophomores Monica Snyder and Jen Murphy ran into a tough and aggressive Williams team and lost by a score of 8-3.
In what was one of the closest matches of the day, sophomore Laura Stein and senior tri-captain Hadley Miller lost 8-6. After falling behind 3-0, while playing outside, the two got a boost when the match moved indoors. Stein and Miller dominated the net game, playing smart doubles and were able to get the match back on serve. However, with the score 6-7, and Amherst serving, Williams was able to squeak out the win and took the match.
After falling behind in the team match 1-2, Amherst knew that they had to win at least four of the six singles matches to clinch the victory. However, the Jeffs fell just short as they split the six singles matches.
At first singles, Kristen Raverta played one of her best matches and completely dominated her opponent. Out-powering Williams' Alex Maclennan, Raverta won 6-0, 6-1.
Miller played a similar match to her senior teammate. She outlasted her opponent, making few mistakes, and won her match by a lopsided score of 6-1, 6-1 at the fifth singles spot.
Snyder, at the third spot, played a tremendous match. Her game was working in all facets and she cruised to a 6-3, 6-1 victory.
Murphy ran into the tremendous depth of the Williams squad, playing a very tough opponent in Annie Hancock at fourth singles. Murphy played a good match, and tried to counter Hancock's pace with deep shots, but ultimately fell short, 6-4, 6-1.
Katherine Hudson '08 made a return to the starting lineup for the first time this year, having fully recovered from an ACL injury. Hudson, playing sixth singles, started off a little slow and dropped the first set 6-0. However, she came back and took an early lead in the second set, but was ultimately not able to prevail and lost the second stanza 6-3.
With the match score tied 3-3, all of the singles matches were completed except for second singles. After dropping a close first set 6-3, Menezes played an even closer set. With the added pressure of having the team's victory riding on her shoulders, Menezes fought off match points and evened the score at 5-5. However, Menezes dropped the next two games and lost the set, 7-5.
In such a close overall match, just the littlest bounces and shots can affect the outcome. Down the stretch, most of the bounces went in favor of Williams.
"When it comes down to it, everyone worked their hardest and did their best," said Hudson. "It was a few unlucky breaks. Some teams are streaky, but we're just not. We are a solid team because we work hard day in and day out, and we usually win. I think we have a terrific end of the season in front of us."
"I think in the future we have to come out strong in the doubles," added Raverta. "Against better teams we can't just rely on winning the match in singles play. I do not think the loss to Williams affected our confidence. We are coming off of two solid wins against Middlebury [College] and Tufts [University] and are ready for postseason play."
Amherst is looking to have its revenge against Williams. If everything plays out right, they should get a rematch this weekend at the NESCAC Tournament in Williamstown.
"Hopefully this weekend at NESCACs, we'll be able to avenge the loss," said Miller. "I know we'll be ready. Sometimes, a tough, tight loss late in the season serves as a nice wake-up call, and ends up motivating a team in a big way in the postseason; that's exactly what I see happening here."
NESCAC Notes
The NESCAC Tournament will take place at Williams next weekend. Amherst earned the top seed while Williams settled for second. The archrivals each have a bye in the first round of the tournament, and the Jeffs will play the winner of number five Tufts University and number four Bowdoin College in the semifinals on Saturday. Williams will face either number three Middlebury College or number six Connecticut College in the other semifiinal match. The final will be held on Sunday.