March 27, 2007

Box Score

SWARTHMORE, PA - The #26 Johns Hopkins women's tennis team topped #19 Swarthmore 5-4 Tuesday afternoon in Centennial Conference, ending the Garnet's 31-match conference win streak. It was also the second consecutive win over a nationally ranked opponent for the Blue Jays, who improve to 10-2 on the season and 3-0 in conference play. Swarthmore falls to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in conference action.

The Garnet won two of the three doubles matches to take an early 2-1 lead in the match. Erica Lukoski and Jennie Park, the #18 ranked doubles pair in the region, beat senior Becky Busch (Winnetka, IL/New Trier Township) and freshman Amanda Schubert (Richmond, VA/Mills E. Godwin) at second doubles 8-1. The Garnet then won at third doubles when Rachel Wallwork and Marissa Matthews defeated junior Tanya Gulnik (Frederick, MD/Governor Thomas Johnson) and freshman Ellen Berlinghof (Fort Washington, PA/Upper Dublin) 8-3. At first doubles, #2 Sonya Reynolds and Sara Sargent were leading 7-4 when Reynolds went down with an injury. Sophomore Brittany Matava (Denver, CO/Littleton) and freshman Anita Bhamidipati (Egg Harbor Township, NJ/Egg Harbor Township High School) came back to win the match 9-7.

In singles, Hopkins won four of the six matches to take the win. At sixth singles, #48 Berlinghof beat Lukoski in straight sets. Hopkins then got a win at third singles when #21 Schubert defeated Matthews in straight sets. Swarthmore came back with a win at fourth singles when #51 Sargent topped Gulnik 6-4, 6-4. Busch picked up a three-set win over Jamie Midyette at fifth singles, making it a 4-3 match with first and second singles still playing.

The Blue Jays and the Garnet split at the final two singles spots, giving Hopkins the 5-4 win. At second, #23 Bhamidipati won in three over #29 Wallwork and at first, #23 Park defeated #11 Matava in three.

Hopkins returns to action on Saturday, March 31 at Franklin & Marshall. The Centennial Conference match is set to begin at 11:00 am.