Amherst Overcomes Williams 5-4 for 2008 Women's Tennis Championship

Courtesy Middlebury/Amherst Sports Information

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – For the third consecutive season, second-seeded Amherst defeated rival and top-seeded Williams to claim the 2008 NESCAC Women’s Tennis Championship, as the Lord Jeffs earned a 5-4 win in the finals held at Middlebury College on Sunday. This is the fifth straight year Amherst has claimed at least a share of the title, and the fourth consecutive year the Jeffs have won the title outright.

The win was the eighth in a row for the Jeffs (15-1), whose lone loss of the season came at the hands of Williams (16-3) on Apr. 6.

Today, the match point was up for grabs at court four. Nikki Reich had won the deciding match earlier this month to help the Ephs defeat Amherst, but she could not pull out the win this time, and fell to first-year Laken King (Laurelton, N.Y.) in a tough and hard fought three-setter, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.

Despite notching a 2-1 lead in doubles play, Williams could muster only two wins in the singles lineup. Grace Baljon and Allie Rottkamp tallied victories at court two and court five, respectively, while the remaining four Ephs faltered. After teaming up for Amherst’s lone win in doubles play, sophomore Brittany Berckes (Secaucus, N.J.) and senior Alicia Menezes (Staten Island, N.Y.) won at No. 1 and No. 3 singles, respectively.

Amherst grabbed the first two singles victories to go up 3-2, before Baljon’s win knotted the score. Then, Allie Rottkamp’s victory gave Williams the lead at 4-3. First-year Natasha Brown (Woodland Hills, Calif.) picked up a 6-3, 6-1 win in the No. 6 spot, leaving King and Reich alone on court four with the deciding third set left to be played.

It was no surprise that the match ended in a 5-4 result, as the last four meetings between these teams heading into Sunday’s finals had ended with one team coming out on top by a 5-4 margin. Amherst took a 2-1 lead in the season series, as the Jeffs had taken a 5-4 win at Williams in the fall before the Ephs took a 5-4 win at Amherst in the spring.

No. 2 Amherst 5, vs. No. 1 Williams 4

Doubles
1 - Alicia Menezes/Brittany Berckes (Amherst) def. Cary Gibson/Annie Schneidman (Williams) 8-3
2 - Allie Rottkamp/Grace Baljon (Williams) def. Jill Wexler/Natasha Brown (Amherst) 8-4
3 - Nikki Reich/Annie Hancock (Williams) def. Jennifer Murphy/Laura Stein (Amherst) 8-3

Singles
1 - Brittany Berckes (Amherst) def. Cary Gibson (Williams) 6-2, 6-4
2 - Grace Baljon (Williams) def. Jill Wexler (Amherst) 6-3, 6-2
3 - Alicia Menezes (Amherst) def. Ashley Parsons (Williams) 6-3, 6-1
4 - Laken King (Amherst) def. Nikki Reich (Williams) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
5 - Allie Rottkamp (Williams) def. Monica Snyder (Amherst) 6-3, 6-4
6 - Natasha Brown (Amherst) def. Annie Hancock (Williams) 6-3, 6-1