Swarthmore Opens Spring With Bang
The 26th-ranked Swarthmore women's tennis team, the 2005 Centennial Conference champion, opened the spring portion of their 2005-06 schedule with a 8-1 victory over New York University in the Michael Mullan Tennis Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Garnet women (1-0) swept their doubles matches, without a single Violet scoring more than three games. The singles' matches did not go quite as smooth, but the outcome was nonetheless sweet. 2005 All-American Sonya Reynolds '07, Marissa Matthews '07, and Emily Townsend '06 won both their singles and doubles matches.
Ranked No. 8 in the Atlantic South region, Swathmore's No.1 doubles pair, Reynolds and Matthews, defeated their opponents easily. Reynolds opened up the set serving beautifully, winning the point in four simple rallies. By the second game, Reynolds and Matthews ran into some trouble returning the Violets' serves. Matthews' quick and sharp serving brought the dynamic duo back on course, sparing their opponents only one point (8-1). The No. 2 doubles' tandem of Sara Sargent '07 and Waverly Lutz '07 rallied back from a 0-3 deficit to win over Erika Olson and Hayley McLaughlin 8-3.
Reynolds began her singles match with a series of unforced errors consisting of unnecessary long shots as well as short shots when attempting to put away a point. Despite trailing, Reynolds kept her cool. Her mental prowess over Tu gave her the ability to come back. Tu was too frustrated to realize that Reynolds shot often curved to the right, and the Swarthmore player won in three sets 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.
At No. 2 singles, Matthews was relentless in her match against Olson, taking her 6-0, 6-3. Even with a bit of racket trouble, Matthews was able to keep control and snatch the win. Swarthmore's No. 3 singles entry, Jennie Park '09 (ranked 16th in the Atlantic South region) sailed past her opponent in two clean sets 6-0, 6-0. Sara Sargent '07 and Townsend won their matches to help Swarthmore earn its first victory of the season.
The Garnet will head south for spring break, playing Greensboro (NC) on Monday, March 6 at 2:00 p.m., and #1-ranked Emory (GA) on Wednesday, March 8 at 3:00 p.m.