Volume 117 >> Issue 50 : Tuesday, October 14, 1997

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After Tough Loss to Skidmore, Tennis Crushes Mount Holyoke

Saturday proved to be a victorious day for women's tennis. Psyched and ready to rock after last week's loss 9­0 loss to Skidmore College, the team defeated Mount Holyoke College 8­1.

Nora Humphrey '98 and Hannah Kwon '00 led the way in an 8­5 win at first doubles. Nisha Singh '00 and Tiffany Cunningham '98, at second doubles, played with intensity but lost 8­6

Playing together for the first time, Jenny Hsieh '01 and Mealani Nakamura '00 played a great third doubles and won 8­2.

Nakamura at first singles and Kwon at fourth singles each won in a quick 6­1, 6­0. At second singles, Humphrey lost the first set 4­6, but regrouped and smashed her opponent in the next two sets 6­3, 6­1.

Cunningham at third singles hung tough and battled out each point with her opponent, coming away with a 6­2, 6­3 victory.

At fifth singles, Singh won the first set and lost the second set, but dug deep and held strong in the end, triumphing with a final score of 6­3, 5­7, 6­4. In an equally tough match, Hsieh played a three-setter at sixth singles, winning 6­3, 5­7, 6­2. Yue Zhang '01 had two well-played matches, winning 8­6 at seventh singles and losing 8­2 at eighth singles.

Coach Merrilee Keller said that "we played really well against a much-improved team."

"This was a great win for us," said Singh, a co-captain. "We need to continue playing at this high level."

The sweet taste of victory has made the varsity tennis women hungry for more, getting them geared up and ready to crush Wellesley at home on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.

Team suffered loss last weekend

Last Saturday, the team suffered defeat to Skidmore College, 9­0. "We really ran into a tough team," Keller said.

At first doubles, Nakamura and Michelle Youn '00 fought hard and played well, but they ran into a little bad luck and lost in an extremely close 9­8(4) match.

Kwon and Humphrey also engaged in a tight match, but lost 8­6 at second doubles. Singh and Cunningham lost 8­1 at number three doubles. And at fourth doubles, Katy Kaminski '01 and Sailu Challapalli '01 also suffered an 8­1 loss.

Skidmore's singles squad also proved to be strong and effective. At first singles, Nakamura competed shot-for-shot with a very highly-ranked opponent but came out with a 6­2, 6­3 loss. Youn, at second singles, emerged just shy of a victory, losing with a score of 7­5, 6­4. Humphrey also faced a loss against a slugger, 6­1, 6­1, at third singles.

At number four, Cunningham battled it out to the end, but came up with a tough 6­2, 7­6(4) loss. Kwon and Singh, at fifth and sixth singles, both encountered tough matches with respective scores of 6­3, 6­1 and 6­2, 6­2.

At number seven and eight, Kaminski and Challapalli, respectively, played well, but also lost 6­3, 6­3 and 6­0, 6­0.

"We really raised our games to another level," said Singh, "but it wasn't quite enough today."