The Saturday match against Colby almost served as a warm-up for the Jeffs as they cruised to a fast and dominating victory. In the doubles play, all three teams won decisively with the second team of senior co-captain Katie Hudson and junior Monica Snyder winning 8-3. At the first spot, first-year Brittany Berckes and junior Alicia Menezes continued their strong play with an 8-3 victory. At the third spot, juniors Jen Murphy and Laura Stein followed suit and won by the same score.
The singles turned into even more of a blowout. In the six matches the Jeffs only dropped eight games total. The first singles match proved to be the only close one of the day, but was cut short due to a Colby injury. Menezes won the first set 7-6 (7-1) before her opponent was forced to retire.
At the second and fourth spot Berckes and Murphy both won 6-0, 6-1, respectively. Snyder, Hudson, and Stein, at the second, fifth and sixth spots, respectively, all won 6-0, 6-0.
After the match against Colby, the Jeffs knew that the real challenge would be against Bowdoin the next day. Bowdoin, who was ranked seventh in the NESCAC going into the match, had not lost a match this spring season. The Polar Bears were also coming off a huge 7-2 victory over Middlebury on Saturday. Whatever the outcome, it was apparent that the match would go down to the wire.
Starting with the doubles play, Bowdoin jumped out to the 2-1 advantage as the Jeffs lost at the number one and two spots. However, Stein and Murphy were able to get the Jeffs on the board with an important 8-5 victory at the third spot. With the deficit, the Jeffs needed to win four of the six singles matches.
Unfortunately, Amherst was only able to grab victory at the third and fourth spots. At number three, Snyder continued her dominant play at the position with a 7-5, 6-0 victory.
Murphy, who had lost the first set 6-2, fought back and was able to take the next two sets for the 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory. Although the Jeffs lost the other four matches, it reflected a tough run of luck rather than a lack fo ability. Other than Murphy's third setter, the rest of the matches all went two sets, but were played very close.At the first spot, Menezes dropped the first set 6-1, but came back and played strong in the second set to force a tiebreaker which she ultimately lost 7-6 (7-0).
Berckes, at number two, had a match similar to her doubles partner's. After dropping the first set 6-3, she also played a closer second set but lost in a tiebreaker as well. Snyder's match was just the opposite: She lost a close first set 7-5 but dropped the second set 6-0.
The two closest matches of the day were at the fifth and sixth spots, in which Hudson and Stein were both narrowly edged by their opponents. Each match was long and hard-fought, but their opponents got the bounces they needed to win each set by just one break. Hudson lost 6-4, 6-4 and Stein fell 7-5, 7-5.
Overall, the Jeffs were very much in the match against Bowdoin, but fell just short on a slow and unfamiliar slow surface. Despite a second conference loss, the Jeffs know that they are still national contenders and are a top 10 team.
"There is a lot to take away from these loses," said Stein. "And we are motivated to bring these lessons with us to the important part of the season."
Luckily, they will have the opportunity to avenge these losses and hopefully come out victorious at the NESCAC Tournament on April 27-29. But first, the Jeffs have some business to take care of.
"I think we have all realized our goals and are ready to do what it takes to achieve them," said Menezes.
The schedule gets no easier, but the next match should be one of the most exciting and biggest of the year. Today the Jeffs return to action at archrival Williams College at 5:00.
NESCAC Notes
The national rankings are completely dominated by the four NESCAC powerhouses. The April 16 Fila Rankings for Div. III tennis has Middlebury second, Williams third, Amherst fifth and Bowdoin sixth. However, with direct victories over Middlebury and Amherst, Bowdoin is the only team in the NESCAC who has not lost a conference match.