This past weekend, the women’s tennis team faced a doubleheader against two quality opponents. Facing a home and road tilt against the Ursinus College Bears and the 11th-ranked Carnegie Mellon University Tartans, the 12th-ranked Jays beat the former while falling to the latter in a narrow defeat.
Hopkins now moves to 9-3 on the season, while their record in the Centennial improved to a perfect 5-0. Both squads were driven indoors due to the unreasonably cold weather that has swept through the region in recent days, an impact which the athletes revealed is never an easy adjustment. Indoor courts tend to play much faster, and most of the team had very little experience playing on the surface regularly until inclement weather forced them indoors.
These sentiments were expressed by the dynamic doubles team of junior Anna Kankanala and senior Olivia Kasten, who both expressed how proud they were that their teammates were able to perform so admirably in these tough circumstances.
“The conditions during the Ursinus match were definitely challenging. We had to play the match indoors and that took some adjusting because the surface was much faster than a regular tennis court. The team did a great job of adapting to the courts and fighting through a difficult match.” Kankanala said.
Kasten reiterated what Kankanala said.
“The girls that went to Ursinus were at a real disadvantage because we had to play indoors due to weather. The courts were the fastest any of us had ever played on, and they were incredibly difficult to get used to. Luckily, I figured out how to play on the courts in the middle of doubles and early into singles. Being able to adapt and change my game led me to a solid doubles victory and a relatively easy singles win,” Kasten said.
The Bears took two of three doubles matches against the Jays to open up the contest, but Kasten and Kankanala would respond decisively and close the deficit with a momentum shifting 8-5 victory at first doubles. To open up singles play, Kankanala would level the match at 2-2 with a decisive 6-4, 6-2 victory at first. Kasten would follow with a resounding victory of her own at second to put the Jays up three matches to two. Hopkins would drop their subsequent matches at third and fourth, entering the final two singles matches facing a 4-3 deficit.
However, the doubles pairing of freshman Katie Gauch and senior Andrea Joseph would redeem themselves in singles competition and seal the victory for the Jays. Gauch leveled the contest at four games a piece with a 7-6(11), 6-1 win at fifth, while Joseph clinched the win for the Jays at sixth with a pair of 6-3 victories.
In Baltimore, the other half of the team was in action against an excellent Carnegie Mellon squad. The Jays battled against the Tartans, but lost a number of matches by narrow margins and ultimately could not prevail against one of the top teams in the nation. While the Jays did not produce the result they wanted against Carnegie Mellon, the entire team should be proud of their resiliency and fight in these tough conditions.
Kasten has had an excellent career as a key contributor in both singles and doubles competitions, and she will leave behind an impressive legacy as a Hopkins athlete. When asked to reflect on her time as a Blue Jay, Kasten said that her favorite part of tennis at Hopkins were the incredibly strong bonds and lifelong friendships she forged with her teammates.
“I couldn’t imagine my life at Hopkins without tennis. The relationships I’ve made through workouts, practices, away matches and spring break trips are ones that I’ll keep for the rest of my life,” Kasten said. “My teammates have been the best part about my experience on the tennis team, and they will also be what I miss most about the team after graduation.”
The Jays remain one of the top teams in the country at their level and should be a strong contender to win the Centennial Conference and make a deep run in NCAAs. Catch them back in action when they on Washington College at home on April 17. This crucial Centennial Conference matchup will take place at 1 p.m. on the tennis courts as Hopkins looks to run their Conference record to a perfect 6-0.
