This past weekend, the women's tennis team continued its strong fall campaign by dominating the competition at the Hofstra Invitational in Long Island. Despite playing three Div. I squads-Hofstra, Radford, and Fairfield Universities-the Jeffs were not scared of the competition. Playing a round-robin style tournament, there wasn't one team that gave the Jeffs trouble. Overall, after the Saturday and Sunday play, the Jeffs finished a combined 33-3 in singles and doubles play.

Going into the match, the Jeffs emphasized the team's doubles play. With a surplus of new talent, a change in the doubles teams is a good possibility.

"We have really been focusing in on doubles, particularly our court positioning and communication on the court," said senior captain Jen Murphy. "It has been great to see the freshmen learn and improve in our drills so quickly."

Murphy, however, is still playing with her long- time partner, and senior captain Laura Stein. The duo had a great weekend at the number three spot, winning all three matches, two of which were in very convincing fashion, 8-0 and 8-1.

Another doubles team that certainly won't be broken up this year, the reigning National Champion duo of senior captain Alicia Menezes and sophomore Brittany Berckes, also won all three of their matches.

At the second doubles spot, first-year Natasha Brown and sophomore Jill Wexler made a strong case for a regular lineup spot with three solid victories. "Natasha's focused on one thing and one thing only on the court: true love," said Stein. "And with the intensity that comes with that, Natasha can't be beaten."

Rounding up the doubles play, at the fourth spot, first-year Carlissa King and Anuja Ankola '10E dropped just four games in their three victories.

Although the Jeffs did not go undefeated in the singles play as well, they still finished 21-3 on the weekend. At the top spot Menezes lost two matches to two very tough players, and at the number two spot first-year Laken King won two of her three matches. Rounding out the rest of the singles lineup from the third to eighth spot were Berckes, Brown, Carlissa King, Murphy, Wexler and Stein. All of these players finished undefeated in singles play. The Jeffs' success came even in the absence of senior captain Monica Snyder, a usual fixture in the top four.

With such a dominating weekend, it is safe to say that Amherst made quite a statement to these Div. I teams. However, the Jeffs now have a more important Div. III match to worry about, as the Jeffs will travel to take on their arch rival Williams College on Saturday.

"This weekend was great for getting lots of tennis in against new teams that we have not competed against in the past," said Murphy. "Our success gives us confidence heading into our big match against Williams this weekend."