The 23rd-ranked women’s tennis team claimed third place at the North Coast Athletic Conference championship in Gambier, Ohio over the weekend.
The Tigers conquered No. 40 Oberlin 5-3, improving their record to 11-11, while the Yeowomen fell to 13-11.
Oberlin started off with a 1-0 lead as the second doubles team of Jackie McDermott and Mayada Audeh defeated sophomore Alyssa Seneviratne and first-year Ali Bush 8-5.
The Tigers struck back in doubles, with the No. 1 doubles pair of junior captain Maddie Lee and junior Gretchen Wilder topping Sarah Hughes and Emma Brezel with an 8-4 score. Seneviratne believes the team’s ability to combat adversity throughout the season played a role in this win.
“I think our biggest adversity has been handling the schedule, both physically and mentally,” she said. “It all comes down to the experience helping us a lot next year for our very young team.”
Lee also noted the team’s adeptness while facing different problems throughout the season.
“We hit a small point of exhaustion in the middle of the season, which would normally slow any team down,” Lee said. “However, we were able to realize this and step up our games to combat the toll the season as a whole was taking on us.”
DePauw’s third doubles team of first-years Colleen Morris and Megan Galle then topped Oberlin's Ariana Abayomi and Erin Johnson 8-6, giving the Tigers a 2-1 lead.
Oberlin evened the score at 2-2 as Hughes defeated Seneviratne 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 at second singles. Bush fought back with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Abayomi at fourth singles, but the lead was short-lived, as Oberlin tied the match at third singles with Brezel defeating Wilder 6-2, 7-5.
Lee conquered Audeh 7-6 (7-2), 2-6, 6-1 at first singles to give DePauw a 4-3 lead before Morris sealed the Tigers’ win at No. 5 singles with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Johnson.
“One important aspect of this match is that we did not get back to our hotel until 5:00 a.m. the night before because the Kenyon match went on until 4:00 a.m.,” said first-year Nicole Pamphilis. “We got little sleep and had to bounce right back from our loss against Kenyon to come fight back with Oberlin.”
Despite the season coming to an end, the Tigers plan to work hard on the off season in order to ensure success moving forward.
“Many of us play in tournaments held in July and also compete in summer adult leagues as well,” Lee said. “We aren’t graduating any players, so we will be strong and solid come next year.”