This weekend, the No. 2 Hopkins women’s tennis team was slated to compete in two matches against Dickenson College and Bryn Mawr College. Although the Bryn Mawr match had to be postponed, the Lady Jays still managed to have a solid weekend, defeating Dickinson Friday afternoon. In a match featuring considerable young talent for Hopkins, the team shutout Dickinson 9-0. With the win, the team improved to 6-1 on the season and is undefeated in the Centennial Conference.
The Lady Jays started off hot in the doubles competition, sweeping all three matches to jump out to an impressive 3-0 lead over the Red Devils. Freshman Megumi Chen and junior Olivia Kasten got the ball rolling, defeating Dickinson freshmen Joana Nunes and Madison Parks 8-1. After that, Hopkins freshman Caroline Greydak and sophomore Anna Kankanala defeated Dickinson freshman Stuart Lemay and junior Sarah Cantor 8-3. To close things out, senior Shannon Libaw and freshman Sunania Vohra won a perfect match against Red Devils freshmen Emily Sprague and Elizabeth Marin.
Kasten felt that the weekend showcased the team’s talent and drive to succeed.
“Last weekend’s match went really well and showed the depth of our team, considering the top three singles players were freshmen,” Kasten said, “We’ve got a relatively young team and a lot of sophomores, so I think the energy that the newer players bring, along with the experience that some of the juniors and seniors bring, provides a unique balance that allows us to succeed.”
After the doubles competition, the match moved into singles play where the Jays continued to shine. Chen won the first match 6-0, 6-2 over Nunes. At second, Vohra defeated Parks 6-1, 6-0. In the third match, Greydak swept Lemay without losing a game and in the fourth, Kankanala clinched the win for Hopkins by defeating Cantor 6-0, 6-3. Libaw and Kasten would also win their matches at fifth and sixth respectively.
The Lady Jays will return to action this Wednesday, April 8, as they host Franklin and Marshall College in another Centennial Conference matchup. Franklin and Marshall is 5-2 on the season and is coming off a very successful spring break tournament where they went 5-1. The match will be at 4 p.m. on the tennis courts.
