Carrying over momentum from a successful California tour during spring break, the Amherst’s women tennis team breezed past No. 17 Skidmore College to pick up a comfortable 7-2 victory in Wilton, New York.
On Saturday afternoon the No. 8 Mammoths took to the courts against a confident Skidmore side that entered the match with an impressive 9-2 record.
On the first doubles court, the tandem of Avery Wagman ’18 and Anya Ivenitsky ’20 battled hard but eventually lost to Skidmore’s Michelle Fuca and Risa Fukushige, who emerged with the 9-7 victory.
However, Vickie Ip ’18 and Jane Fraley ’19 powered past the duo of Ada Wiggins and Renee Karchere-Sun, 8-2, on the second doubles court. On the third doubles court, the sophomore pairing of Camille Smukler and Maddie Dewire clinched an 8-6 victory against Alexa Goldberg and Jessica Ampel.
Notching two victories on the doubles courts, the Amherst women went into singles play with a 2-1 advantage.
On court one, Smukler made light work of her opponent to win the match 6-4, 6-1. Meanwhile on court two, Ip fended off Ada Wiggins, posting a hard fought win in three sets.
Ip won the first set, 6-3, but fell short in the second, losing 2-6 to force a decisive third set. However, Wiggins faltered in the final set, and Ip cruised to victory, not allowing Wiggins to win a single game.
The final score line read 6-3, 2-6, 6-0 in favor of Ip.
Clinical performances on courts four, five and six helped the Amherst women secure the victory. On the fifth and sixth courts, Wagman and Camilla Trapness ’19 exposed the lack of depth in Skidmore’s roster, as both players picked up identical 6-2, 6-0 victories. On court four, Iventisky comfortably triumphed over Fuca, 6-3, 6-3.
Skidmore’s only victory on the singles courts came on court three, where Karchere-Sun defeated Maddie Dewire 6-4, 6-3.
Overall, the Amherst women convincingly beat Skidmore, 7-2, and with the win, the Mammoths improved to 4-3 on the season.
Amherst returns to action on Wednesday, April 4, when it will host Conn. College at 4 p.m.
