Spring Break
TENNIS: Women's squad handles Bates, but men lose twice
by Adam Rosen
Staff writer
Sports | 3/24/09
Posted online at 12:52 AM EST on 3/24/09
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In a matchup between two of the top- ranked teams in the region, the Judges knocked off Bates by an 8-1 count last Saturday and improved the team's record to 8-3. The men's team also hosted Bates last Saturday but lost 8-0. They followed that up with another defeat at Tufts University last Sunday, falling 8-1 to drop to 5-7 on the season.
On the women's side, the Judges jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead after an 8-5 victory by No. 1 doubles pair Rachel Rosman '11 and Mackenzie Gallegos '11 and an 8-1 win by No. 3 doubles pair Ariana Sanai '10 and Emily Weisberger '10. However, the tone of the match was set at No. 2 doubles, where captain Gabrielle Helfgott '09 and Nina Levine '12 were in a tight match against rookies Erika Blauth and Brooke Morse-Karzen.
With every member of both teams watching, the No. 2 doubles match went into a second set tiebreaker after the two sides split the first 16 games.
"We were really pumped because a lot of people were watching, so we just tried to be really aggressive at the net and in a lot of the points, and we didn't really have anything to lose," Levine said. "And knowing that the other doubles teams won really helped us. We played like there was nothing to lose."
With a 4-3 lead in the first-to-seven third-set supertiebreaker, Helfgott came up with two consecutive service winners to put the Judges up 6-3. The first one forced a return by Bates that hit straight back into the net, and the second one was an ace. In the match point when the Judges' pair led 6-4, Levine hit a winner at the net that went straight up the middle to give the lefty partners the victory and put the Judges up 3-0 in the overall competition.
"They played well in the big points, which is how you win tennis matches," Lamanna said.
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