Amherst Rolls Past Tufts 5-0 in Women's Softball Semifinals
Courtesy Amherst Sports Information
SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – The Amherst College women’s tennis team earned a 5-0 win over Tufts University Saturday afternoon in the 2010 NESCAC Championship semifinal round. Originally scheduled to be played in Amherst, Saturday’s semifinal matches were moved indoors to Mount Holyoke College.
The second-seeded Lord Jeffs improve to 16-2 (7-1 NESCAC) and will face top-seeded Williams College Sunday at 9 a.m. in the title match. The third-seeded Jumbos fall to 14-6 (7-2 NESCAC) and will likely receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Facing Tufts in the conference semifinals for the third consecutive year, Amherst replicated the dominant doubles play it displayed in the Apr. 20 regular season meeting with the Jumbos by carrying a 3-0 lead into singles action. Carlissa King and Caroline Richman got things going for Amherst by cruising to an 8-0 win over Jennifer LaCara and Edwina Stewart at No. 3, followed by Jill Wexler and Natasha Brown defeating the No. 2 Tufts pairing of Lindsay Katz and Janice Lam, 8-5.
The Jumbos looked as though they would salvage a point when Julia Browne and Meghan McCooey took a 5-2 lead over the Lord Jeffs' No. 1 duo of Brittany Berckes and Laura Danzig, but momentum quickly shifted when Amherst won the next five games to go ahead, 7-5. Browne and McCooey cut their deficit to one, but the Lord Jeffs wrapped up the doubles sweep by winning the next game for an 8-6 win.
Danzig was exceptional in her 6-0, 6-2 win over McCooey at No. 2 singles, and Wexler wrapped things up for Amherst by defeating Katz at No. 4, 7-5, 6-2. After Saturday's dominant performance, Amherst will battle archrival Williams for the conference crown for the fifth consecutive year. The Jeffs have won each of the past five NESCAC titles outright.
