COLLEGE
WOMEN'S TENNIS FINAL SCORE
Amherst 6, Tufts 3
At Amherst, MA
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Doubles
1. Brittany Berckes/Laura Danzig (A) def. Julia Browne/Meghan McCooey (T) 8-2
2. Jill Wexler/Natasha Brown (A) def. Lindsay Katz/Janice Lam (T)
8-3
3. Caroline Richman/Carlissa King (A) def. Erica Miller/Lauren Hollender (T) 8-0
Singles
1. Browne (T) def. Berckes (A) 6-0, 6-2
2. Danzig (A) def. McCooey (T) 6-1, 6-3
3. King (A) def. Katz (T) 4-6, 7-5, 6-4
4. Wexler (A) def. Edwina Stewart (T) 6-1, 6-2
5. Lam (T) def. Brown (A) 7-5, 2-6, 6-3
6. Jennifer LaCara (T) def. Laken King (A) 0-6, 6-1, 6-4
AMHERST -- The top-ranked Amherst College women's tennis
team rebounded from its first Division III loss of the season by
earning a 6-3 win over 17th-ranked Tufts University Tuesday
afternoon. The Lord Jeffs used a dominant performance in doubles
play to improve to 12-1 (5-1 NESCAC), while the Jumbos dropped to
11-5 overall and 5-2 in the conference.
Highlighting the afternoon was the top doubles match between
Amherst's Brittany Berckes (Secaucus, NJ) and Laura Danzig
(Allendale, NY), and Tufts' Julia Browne (Old Brookville,
NY) and Meghan McCooey (Cumberland, RI).
The Jumbo duo - ranked #1 in the Northeast - defeated the Lord Jeff
pair in this past fall's ITA New England Region Championship
doubles tournament, but Amherst got its revenge with a convincing
8-2 victory.
Berckes and Danzig - ranked #3 in the Northeast by the ITA -
played arguably their best match of the year. Browne and McCooey
had been 3-0 all-time against Amherst as a pair, but the Lord Jeffs
stormed out of the gate to win the first three games and never
looked back, looking crisp throughout the match.
Cruising to an 8-0 win in the No. 3 doubles match were Caroline
Richman (Pacific Palisades, CA) and Carlissa King (Bayside, NY),
who did not surrender a single game to Tufts first year
Lauren Hollender (Newton, MA) and senior
Erica Miller (Boca Raton, FL). Wrapping up the
clean sweep in doubles play were Natasha Brown (Woodland Hills, CA)
and Jill Wexler (Beverly, MA), who rattled off six straight games
after dropping the first to Tufts' excellent first year pair
Lindsay Katz (Owings Mills, MD) and Janice
Lam (San Francisco, CA), ultimately pulling out the 8-3
win.
Browne demonstrated why she is the ITA's top-ranked singles
player in the Northeast by earning a 6-0, 6-2 win over Berckes in
the No. 1 match, improving to 3-1 all-time against the Amherst
star. Browne is now 15-1 in singles play this year, with her lone
loss coming against a Division II opponent.
Danzig handed momentum back to the home team by breezing past
McCooey at No. 2, as she had arguably the most impressive day for
Amherst. The Lord Jeff sophomore dropped her first game but won the
next nine en route to a 6-1, 6-3 win.
Wexler sealed the deal for Amherst in the No. 4 match, earning a
6-1, 6-2 win over junior Edwina Stewart (London,
ENG) for her team's fifth point of the afternoon. The next
two matches to finish would go the Jumbos' way, with sophomore
Jennifer LaCara (Huntington Station, NY) defeating
Amherst's Laken King (Bayside, NY) at No. 6, and Lam taking care of
Brown at No. 5. LaCara's victory was particularly impressive, as
she failed to win a game in her first set, but came back to take
the next two, 6-1 and 6-4.
Rounding out the afternoon's matches was the battle between Katz
and Carlissa King at No. 3. Katz won the first set of the marathon,
6-4, but the next two went to King by scores of 7-5 and 6-4.
Amherst increased its winning streak over Tufts to 22 matches,
dating back to the 1991-92 season.
The Jeffs and Jumbos will each return to action Saturday, with
Amherst hosting Wesleyan University at noon and Tufts traveling to
take on Middlebury at 2 pm.
Match release courtesy of Amherst College.
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