The women’s tennis team concluded the fall season with a strong showing in the New England Women’s Intercollegiate Tournament (NEWITT) this past weekend, competing at Amherst, Mt. Holyoke, Hampshire and Smith Colleges. The tournament allowed for the Jeffs to see both familiar and new competition, as a total of 25 schools participated.
The tournament was played in an unconventional format: the field was split into two flights, each with a 64-person draw. Each school could enter different two-person teams into the flights. The two-person teams went head to head, each playing one singles match and one doubles match to determine who advances to the next round. Thus, the tournament provided a great opportunity for several Amherst players to get real match experience, as Head Coach Jackie Bagwell entered seven teams across the two flights. “NEWITTs was really a great tournament because everyone on the team got a chance to play competitively,” said junior Brittany Berckes. “It was really nice to be able to cheer on all of our players instead of just those typically in the lineup.”
Predictably, Amherst’s No. 1 doubles team, made up of Berckes and sophomore Natasha Brown, excelled over the weekend. The duo entered the tournament as the second seed in the A flight, behind the first-seeded team for Williams College. Rather unsurprisingly, the No. 1 teams from Amherst and Williams met in the finals. Berckes and Brown cruised on their way there, sweeping both Wellesley College and MIT, 3-0, in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. However, in the showdown against the Ephs, Berckes and Brown came up empty, falling 3-0.
Playing as the third team for Amherst in the A flight, sophomore sisters Carlissa and Laken King also had a very strong showing. Seeded number seven in the draw, the duo defeated Babson College, 3-0, and then edged the fourth-seeded Bowdoin College squad, 2-1. However, in the semifinals, the Kings fizzled, falling to the eventual tournament champions.
The No. 2 team for the Jeffs in the A flight, first-year Laura Danzig and junior Jill Wexler also looked good this weekend, coasting to the quarterfinals to face none other than the eventual Williams champion team. The Amherst duo gave the Ephs quite a scare. Danzig, facing last year’s national singles runner up, split sets with Cary Gibson to force a deciding tiebreaker, which Danzig dominated, 10-3, to win the match. Since Wexler lost in singles, the match came down to the doubles, which Williams narrowly won by an 8-6 score.
Although the Jeffs did not take home the championship in the A flight, they once again showed their tremendous depth. While the Williams duo did defeat three Jeffs teams consecutively to earn the championship, the fact that the lower-seeded Jeff players were able to hang with the Ephs is very promising for the spring season.
Unfortunately for Amherst, the Jeffs saw more of the same narrow defeats in the B flight. The Amherst fourth-seed duo, sophomore Mimi Bell and senior Anuja Ankola, reached the finals before losing to the No. 3 team from Williams in a close 2-1 decision. Prior to reaching the finals, the duo took down the No. 4 Williams team convincingly, 3-0.
Sophomores Charlotte Wilinsky and Danielle Erb also played deep into the tournament as the Jeffs No. 5 squad, losing to the B-flight champion Williams team 3-0.
Although the Jeffs’ play was hardly a disappointment, it’s safe to say that the team was not completely satisfied with this weekend’s showing. While 25 teams entered, it was largely an Amherst-Williams show. The Jeffs did prove their tremendous depth, but time after time, it was the Ephs who came out on top. As the team heads into the offseason, however, these disappointing results may be just the motivation that Amherst needs to prepare for the more intense—and more important—spring season. “The fall season definitely had its high points which will give us a lot of confidence for the off-season and the spring,” said Berckes. “However, we had our lows—especially losing to Williams. The loss has only made us hungrier and that much more motivated to work hard over the winter and come out strong in the spring.”