April 21, 2006
Shorewomen Stop Mules, 5-4
Bull Clinches Match with Win at No. 3 Singles

ALLENTOWN, PA -- The Washington College women's tennis team, ranked eighth in the Atlantic South region, topped host Muhlenberg, ranked ninth in the region, 5-4, in a Centennial Conference match this afternoon in Allentown, PA. The Shorewomen improved to 14-5 overall and finish their regular season conference schedule with a 9-1 mark in league play. The Mules fell to 7-7 overall and 7-2 in Centennial play.

The Shorewomen took a 2-1 lead in the match by winning at the bottom two doubles spots. Amy Schmidt and Jenn Powell scored an 8-5 win for Muhlenberg at No. 1 over WC sophomore Allison Daciek (Severna Park, MD/Severna Park) and senior Beth Foster (Lothian, MD/St. Mary's), the 11t-ranked doubles team in the region. Washington freshman Lydia Bull (Berkeley Heights, NJ/Kent Place School) and sophomore Blake Leeser (Irvington, NY/Irvington) posted a 9-8(5) win over Pam Kimmelman and Carly Rotfeld at No. 2 and freshman Kate Barston (Darien, CT/Darien) freshman Kristen Hossick (Ashton, MD/Mount de Sales Academy) cruised to an 8-2 win over Jacquelyn Magner and Stacy Lipschutz at No. 3.

Washington won at No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5 singles to come away with the win. Bull was a 6-2, 7-6(3) winner over Rotfeld at No. 3, Hossick bested Powell, 6-4, 6-1, at No. 4, and Leeser beat Lipschutz, 6-4, 6-3, at No. 5. Bull's win clinched the victory for the Shorewomen.

Schmidt, ranked third in the region in singles, beat Daciek, ranked 24th in the region, 6-2, 6-2, at No. 1 singles. Muhlenberg also won at No. 2, where Kimmelman beat Foster, 6-4, 6-2, and at No. 6, where Kelly Fraser bested WC sophomore Ryoko Sawada (Kushiro, Japan/Kushiro Koryo), 3-6, 6-1, 5-4(13).

"We beat a good team today without playing very good tennis," remarked WC head coach Constantine Ananiadis. "That's encouraging in one sense, but we need to play a lot better next week if we want to have any chance of beating this team again in the conference semifinals."

Washington and Muhlenberg will meet in the Centennial Conference semifinals next Saturday unless first-place Swarthmore, thus far unbeaten in league play, drops two of its final three conference matches.

The Shorewomen return to action Wednesday with a 3:30 p.m. home match against Salisbury.

MATCH RESULTS