The eighth-ranked Hopkins women’s tennis team won a pair of Centennial Conference victories this past weekend to push them into the NCAA tournament for the sixth year in a row. The Lady Jays hosted the tournament, facing Haverford on Saturday and Swarthmore on Sunday to capture the title.
In the Saturday match, Hopkins managed a 5-0 victory over fourth-seeded Haverford. The day started out with an 8-0 win in third-doubles from senior Courtney Boger and freshman Kaitlin Pfisterer.
For Pfisterer, the psychological component of the crucial match was what she enjoyed most.
“Similar to most other sports, tennis is a game of endurance and physical toughness, but it becomes very unique when looked at it from a mental and psychological perspective,” the freshman from New Jersey said. “Doubles, for example, is not a test of what team has the two best players; it is instead a test of who has the two players that work best and most fluidly together.”
Sophomore Hailey Hogan and junior Nandita Krishnan then brought in another win of 8-1 in doubles followed by a third victory, 8-2, achieved by sophomore Abby Clark and freshman Shannon Herndon. Herndon then went on to expand Hopkins lead with a 6-0, 6-2 win at third-singles, her
14th win of the season. Clark then brought in the last win with a score of 6-0, 6-0 at fourth-singles.
On Sunday, the Jays battled third-seeded Swarthmore for the Centennial Conference title.
Clark and Herndon started out the day with an 8-1 win at second-doubles, followed by another win from Hogan and Krishnan at first-doubles, 8-2. Hopkins then increased their lead to 3-0 when fellow freshmen Elaine Baik and Stephanie Rettig defeated their opponents, 8-3, at third-doubles.
Krishnan, playing second-singles, helped to further expand the Lady Jays’ lead with a 6-2, 6-0 victory. This was Krishnan’s 50th career singles win, marking her as one of only five people to reach this milestone in the program’s history.
Clark clinched the championship with a 6-2, 6-1 victory at fourth-singles to give Hopkins another shutout win, 5-0. This was the Jays’ sixth consecutive Centennial Conference Championship. For sixth consecutive year. Hopkins will head to the NCAA Tournament with a record of 16-5.
“My personal goal for the season is just to do everything and anything I can do to help my team become better and win the most matches we possibly can,” Clark said.
The NCAA tournament bracket will be released on Monday, May 7th and play will commence on May 11th.
