Sports

Women's tennis grabs CC win, drops two

In print | April 10, 2008

Swarthmore’s women’s tennis team (6-4, 5-1) has faced some intense competition this season, including wins over tough teams and some outstanding individual performances.

On Wednesday, April 2, the Garnet triumphed over Centennial rival Ursinus College, 7-2. That match featured singles wins by Rachel Wallwork ’10, Alexis Hickman ’11 and Kathryn Stockbower ’11, who is displaying her versatility after achieving distinction in the winter as part of the basketball team. Wallwork and Stockbower combined for a first doubles win, while Hickman and Luann Cignavitch ’11 also won a doubles match. Sofia Gall ’09 and Kearney Bangs ’10 also won singles matches.

On Saturday, April 5, the Garnet played Carnegie Mellon College (whose squad is ranked eighth in the nation) and lost 8-1. Wallwork defeated Amy Staloch, ranked #6 regionally for singles, in straight sets for the Garnet’s sole win of the day, which gave her seven consecutive wins.

On Sunday, the team lost tough battles to #7 ranked Mary Washington, falling 9-0, which ended Wallwork’s winning streak. She is still ranked #1 in singles competition in the Centennial Conference.

“The match against Mary Washington was tough, but everyone kept their energy up, had fun and played their best, which is all anyone can ask for,” Wallwork said. She said she was proud of the team’s work and progress.

Stockbower said that although she missed some of the season due to an overlap with basketball, she felt “happy with my performance overall. I didn’t play with the level of consistency I would have liked, but for my first match, I thought it went pretty well,” she said. For the rest of the season, she hopes to work on consistency in strategy as well as serves and groundstrokes.

Coach Jeremy Loomis was very proud of the team for its progress, calling them “extremely resilient.” The team has been so successful so far this season in part because of its ability to bounce back from tough defeats, like when they beat Skidmore College and Washington College 5-4 last month after falling 9-0 to Johns Hopkins University. “I think this team has that ability this year, to come back and make positive things happen after a bit of a slide. That is indicative of the leadership and overall great team chemistry we have this year,” he said.

Loomis praised Wallwork’s “hard work in the off-season and during the year,” saying it has “really shown” on the court. He hopes that she can be nominated for all-conference honors and to participate in the NCAA tournament. Overall, he says, “if we can stay focused and use the lessons from our past matches to improve, we’ll be capable of doing great things at the end of the year.”

The Garnet’s next match is today at 4 p.m. at Dickinson College. Its next home match is Saturday at noon against Muhlenberg College.