In the Gail Smith Tournament, in which the teams in the championship draw emerged from eight round-robin draws, Brewer and Devlin bustled past twenty-nine other pairs en route to the championship, which came in an 8-1 drubbing of the same Middlebury pairing they had defeated to win their ITA title.
The twosome has remained peerless in the NESCAC, as their dynamism has continued to overmatch opponents in all the tournaments in which they have played together. “I think what makes us a great team is that our games compliment each other,” Devlin said. “So it’s a combination of Jordan’s baseline game and consistency with my net skills and serve that really allow us intimidate other teams and win so many matches.”
Advancing to the semifinals were Natasha Brown ’11 and Laura Danzig ’12, after they went 3-0 in the round-robin bracket. However, they were defeated, 8-5, by a duo from Middlebury that had also ousted Carlissa King ’11 and Caroline Richman ’13 in the quarterfinals by the same score. In addition, first-years Zoe Pangalos and Isabel Camacho advanced past the round-robin play, but also lost to a Bowdoin pair 8-4 in the quarterfinals.
The NEWITT’s, which were held over the weekend on campus, featured a distinctive scoring style allowed the team to show off its impressive depth and versatility, as three points were up for grabs in each round. The first was decided in the doubles match, and the other two were each awarded after the partners split to play a pair of singles matches.
Devlin and Brewer, who did not drop a point to the opposition in winning the title, showed grit beyond their years in defeating a Williams pair for the title. Devlin, in particular, turned heads, as she played for a meaningless point after the Jeffs had already secured the win with two points in the championship. However, after losing her first set against the Williams player 5-7, she stormed back to take the next two 6-4, 10-4.
Danzig and Brown, Amherst’s No. 2 doubles team, lost 2-1 to the Williams pair that was defeated in the championship, while King and Richman, as well No. 4 doubles pair Laken King ’11 and Lauren Slutsky ’14 were downed in the second round. In the Flight B bracket, Jennifer Newman ’14 and Mimi Bell ’11 made their way to the semifinals before being ousted. During that run, they defeated a No. 1 pairing from Smith and a No. 2 pairing from MIT.
For all their success, the team now faces its biggest challenge heading into the fall season — complacency. After defeating Williams 5-4 in their only dual match of the season, the team should be vying for the top ranking in Div. III when the first polls are released on Election Day. As Brewer pointed out, their biggest offseason priority during the winter will be not falling into hibernation: “I think our main goal is to keep the same determination, desire and focus going through the spring season, the most important season.”