After three straight wins at this past weekend's North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament, the DePauw Tigers women's tennis team won their third straight NCAC title.
More impressively, the 11th-ranked Tiger team defeated Wittenberg University, Kenyon College and Denison University without losing a single match.
On Friday, the Tigers trumped Wittenberg 5-0. Senior Meg Crowley and junior Claire Marshall did not have a point scored against them in their 8-0 match against Wittenberg's Jamie Whaley and Lexi Garcia.
No. 1 seed senior Caroline Emhardt and junior Maggie MacPhail and No. 3 seed juniors Julie Wittwer and Kaitlin Pickrel also had impressive matches on Friday, with each duo beating their opponents 8-1.
In Sunday's matchup against Denison, the Tigers won 6-0. Wittwer and Pickrel were able to beat their opponents 8-1. The No. 1 and No. 2 slotted matches went to DePauw in addition to all of the singles matches.
After the three wins in the NCAC Championship, the Tiger's confidence after this weekend is at a season high.
"Our confidence is running high after our conference win," Emhardt said, "but we need to keep the momentum going with two hard weeks of practice to prepare for the tournament and never feel like we are satisfied."
However, Crowley said the victories for the Tigers over the weekend were not as lopsided as the results might seem. During their last matchup at Denison, for example, the Tigers escaped by a score of 5-4. The Tigers came in to this weekend knowing their opponents and expecting them to put up a fight.
"Anything could have happened," Crowley said. "We played Denison before, and it wasn't that lopsided. The scoreboard doesn't reflect how close the matches actually were."
Singles matches were just as successful for the Tigers, with MacPhail and Marshall beating their Wittenberg opponents, 6-0 in two sets. Friday's matchup was only the start of a dominant weekend for the Tigers, as they faced the Kenyon in the NCAC semifinals the following day. Against Kenyon, the Tigers saw the same 5-0 outcome as they did the following day.
Emhardt and MacPhail found their stroke yet again, winning 9-8 in a nail biting matchup against Kenyon's Jenna Murray and Taylor Diffley. Though the duo's match's winning difference stretched far from Friday's bashing of Wittenberg, the 29-5 doubles team used the same principles throughout the weekend.
"Maggie and I want to play our best every time we step on the court," Emhardt said. "If we can win a point for the team, then we have done our job. We pump ourselves up and strategize how to win no matter who the opponent is, and we play aggressively so that we are in control of the outcome."
Each doubles match is worth one point toward the overall score.
MacPhail and Emhardt have helped carry the Tigers to their success over the past several seasons. Last year, Emhardt and MacPhail recorded a 20-5 record in the No. 2 doubles slot, which was enough to grant them an All-NCAC doubles second team selection. Their success was one of the reasons DePauw made it to last year's third round of the NCAA Division 3 Team Championship. Nevertheless, Emhardt said that being a senior has made this season has been even more memorable.
Crowley shared the same sentiments and has noticed her team's hard work throughout the season, leading them to their third straight NCAC title.
"We've been working all season for last weekend and the next couple of weeks," Crowley said. "We need to relax and go out and play the way that coach taught us. We hope that continues."
With only a few days until the national "decision day" for high school seniors, the Tigers recent success can be enough to convince undecided recruits for the program.
"For incoming recruits and high school seniors making their decisions, I think it reflects not only our hard work but how team oriented we are," Pickrel said. "We don't focus on individual statistics but more of what we can accomplish together as a team."
The team is now 18-4 to finish off the regular season, with none of their losses coming against NCAC teams.