MEDFORD, MA (March 12, 2023) -- The No. 8 Tufts University women's tennis team won two of three doubles matches, and used that momentum to dominate in singles action in earning a 7-2 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) victory over No. 13 Williams College in play from Gantcher Field House Sunday.
The Jumbos (2-2, 2-1 NESCAC) shook off a small two-match losing skid with the win, battling back after Saturday's narrow 5-4 defeat to No. 5 Middlebury College. Tufts got on the board first on Sunday with an emphatic 8-0 win by
Madeline Suk and
Caroline Garrido over Mia Thomann and Maya Jamroz. The pairing of Suk and Garrido moved to 4-0 on the season in dual matches this spring.
The Ephs (1-2, 1-2 NESCAC) evened match with an 8-5 win at No. 1 doubles, but the pair of
Zoe Kava and
Sophie Wax gave the Jumbos the 2-1 lead going to singles with an 8-6 win over Jane Ladaga and Ananya Aggerwal. Kava and Wax are now 2-0 in conference play.
Williams came right back though to deadlock the match again, as Katherine Orgielewicz topped Wax 6-2, 6-3 at No. 1 singles. From that point on though, it would be all Jumbos as first-year
Rachel Cranley started the run of wins for the hosts. Cranley won in straight sets over Thomann, 7-5, 6-2, at No. 2 singles to put the Jumbos up 3-2.
Rebecca Lim also was a straight set winner for Tufts at No. 4 singles, capturing a 6-1, 7-5 win over Aggerwal to make the score 4-2. The deciding win came at No. 5 singles for the Jumbos, as Suk bested Ladaga 6-1, 6-1 for her third win of the spring while capturing the victory for Tufts.
At No. 3 singles,
Lucy Mitchell fell behind after dropping the opening set in a tiebreak 7-5. Mitchell responded with a 7-6 (1) victory in the second set to send the match to the third stanza. In the third set, Mitchell was leading 1-0 when Yuu Ishikawa was forced to retire to clinch the win for Mitchell.
The final match was another straight set victory for the Jumbos, as Kava posted a 6-1, 6-3 triumph at No. 6 singles for her second straight win while upping her spring record to 3-1.
The win for Tufts was its third straight over the Ephs, after Williams had won 37 in a row in the series dating back to 1992. The victory was also the first home win over Williams since 1986.
The Jumbos will have some time off before heading down to Florida for Spring Break for three matches. Tufts will take on the University of Central Arkansas March 21 at 9 a.m. in Winter Park, FL, before battling Rollins College later that afternoon at 3:30 p.m.
--JUMBOS--
