Fourth-ranked Amherst women’s tennis wrapped up an undefeated NESCAC season with a dominating 9-0 victory over 10th-ranked Middlebury. The win was the Jeffs’ seventh in a row, moving them to 16-3 on the year and 8-0 in the NESCAC. Coach Jackie Bagwell’s team will look to maintain their momentum at the NESCAC Championships, beginning on this Friday, May 2 at Bowdoin.
Saturday, April 26 was senior day for the Jeffs, and the team honored ten members from the Class of 2014: Jordan Brewer, Alex Budd, Isabel Camacho, Gabby Devlin, Claire DiMario, Jen Newman, Zoe Pangalos, Maggie Seaver, Lauren Slutsky and Mary Soyster.
“I am going to miss our seniors so much. The team will not be the same without them not just because of how awesome they are but also because they make up half our team,” Sue Ghosh ’16 said.
Against the Panthers, Brewer shined in the rout for Amherst. The senior combined with Devlin to collect an 8-2 doubles victory over Kaysee Orozco and Ria Gerger, and she also coasted to a 6-0, 6-1 singles victory over Gerger.
On the No. 2 doubles court, Newman and Pangalos picked up another convincing doubles win over Lily Bondy and Alexandra Fields, winning 8-3. Safi Aly ’15 and Sarah Monteagudo ’16 completed the Jeffs’ sweep of the doubles matches by defeating Dorrie Paradies and Katie Paradies 8-2 on the No. 3 court.
In the day’s only three-set match, Devlin edged Fields, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (3), 10-5, in the second singles spot.
“I try to stay focused on my court, but it’s hard once you know your team has won,” remarked Devlin, who earned NESCAC Co-Player of the Week Honors for her performance this past week. “I just kept thinking my team is depending on me, and I have to deliver. Our assistant coach Mollie was so great because she reminded me it was senior day and to just enjoy the moment and keep fighting until the end. So it was a tough match but turned out to be a pretty great day.”
Newman cruised past Orozco, 6-1,6-2 in the third slot, while Ghosh knocked off Bondy, 6-2, 7-6 (8), in the fourth slot. In the fifth spot, Pangalos beat Paradies 6-2, 7-5, and Monteagudo rolled past Katie Paradies, 6-0, 6-4 on the No. 6 court to finish off the Panthers.
The Jeffs, who won the NESCAC title in 2012 but lost in the finals last year to archrival Williams, will look to reclaim the title this weekend at Bowdoin. Amherst and Williams are the only two NESCAC teams to claim conference titles since 2001 — the Jeff leading with seven.
“These last two weekends have been really high energy and great tennis. In my four years we’ve never beaten Middlebury 9-0,” Devlin noted. “We’ve got so much confidence going into NESCACs this week.”
Amherst will likely earn the No. 1 seed, giving them a bye for the first round of NESCACs. The Jeffs will be in action on Saturday morning against the winner of the No. 4 and No. 5 seed match. Should they advance, the Jeffs will play for the NESCAC championship on Sunday.
