After convincing defeats of Babson and Skidmore, the fourth-ranked Amherst women’s tennis team knocked off MIT on Sunday to win the Nor’easter Bowl championship, hosted by Wellesley College. The Jeffs’ three victories ran their win streak to six matches, and their overall dual match record to 8-2.
Amherst opened play on Friday against Babson. Seniors Jordan Brewer and Gabby Devlin picked up where they left off at the top of the doubles order. After going undefeated in doubles on the team’s California trip, they beat Babson’s duo of Alex Freeman and Dina Weick 8-1. Seniors Zoe Pangalos and Jen Newman handled Alexis Ferraro and Tori Paolino 8-1 as well, and the combination of Sarah Monteagudo ’16 and Safi Aly ’15 shut out Sarah Whitaker and Courtney Fischer 8-0.
Coach Jackie Bagwell gave Devlin and Brewer the day off in singles, so Newman played in the No. 1 court, where she lost to Freeman, 7-5, 6-3, in what was to be the Beavers’ only victory of the day. Monteagudo won in the No. 2 court, and first-years Megan Adamo and Simone Aisiks won in the No. 3 and 4 courts respectively. Aly and senior Isabel Camacho wrapped up the 8-1 victory with wins at the bottom of the singles order.
On Saturday, the Jeffs did not drop a single set to 19th-ranked Skidmore. Brewer and Devlin blanked Lee Ford and Madeline Benn, 8-0, while the teams of Pangalos and Newman and Monteagudo and Aly won 8-4 and 8-1, respectively. Bagwell mostly returned to her usual singles lineup, so Brewer and Devlin were back in courts 1 and 2. Brewer defeated Melissa Hirsch, 6-2, 6-1, and Devlin collected a 6-3, 6-2 win over Ford. Newman, (6-3, 6-0) sophomore Sue Ghosh, (6-0, 6-1) Pangalos (6-2, 6-4) and Monteagudo (6-2, 6-2) completed the sweep for Amherst.
Sunday’s final against 17th-ranked MIT was a rematch of a March 8 contest, which the Jeffs won 9-0. Amherst produced a similar result Sunday, beginning with another doubles victory from Brewer and Devlin, who overwhelmed Lauren Quisenberry and Julia Hsu, 8-2. Newman and Pangalos battled to a 9-7 triumph over Elysa Kohrs and Victoria Tam, while Monteagudo and Aly beat Michelle Dutt and Krystal Lai 8-2.
Kohrs did not present a challenge to Brewer in the No. 1 singles court, as the Jeff coasted to a 6-1, 6-0 victory. Devlin knocked off Wendi Kong 6-1, 7-5 in the No. 2 court and Newman handled sophomore Sunnie Lampl comfortably, 6-1, 6-0. Ghosh beat Lai 6-1, 7-6 (7-1) in the fourth court. Although she dropped the only set of the day for Amherst, Pangalos managed to rally and defeat Hsu 6-2, 2-6, 10-6. Monteagudo completed the rout, rolling to a 6-2, 6-1 win over junior Vynnie Kong.
“No matter if it’s 6-1 or 7-6, you have to stay focused. Even if you’re up 5-1 in a set, you have to really concentrate in order to close it out because it’s really easy to lose focus. Sometimes it’s easier to stay focused when it’s neck-and-neck because there’s a lot of intensity there. It’s easier to keep my head in the game when it’s a close match,” said Ghosh regarding her 6-1, 7-6 win against her Thoroughbred opponent.
This Friday, the Jeffs will visit seventh-ranked Bowdoin in what will be their first NESCAC match of the season. On Saturday, they will face off against third-ranked Emory at Bowdoin in the morning and wrap up their weekend by visiting NESCAC opponent Bates.
“Last time we saw Emory it was the semifinals of the national tournament last year, and we barely lost. We had a match point, so I think it’ll be really interesting to see what will happen this weekend,” Ghosh added. “I know the team has been working really hard, and we’re all really pumped to see them again.”
