May 3, 2009
Box Score
BALTIMORE, MD - Just hours after watching the men's tennis team win its third conference title, the 10th-ranked Johns Hopkins women's tennis team turned the same trick. Hopkins beat visiting Washington College, 5-0 on Sunday afternoon to claim its third straight Centennial Conference Championship. The Blue Jays win their school-record 12th straight match and improve 13-3 on the season. The Shorewomen fall to 17-5 on the season with the loss.
Hopkins took control early, sweeping all three doubles matches to take a 3-0 lead. Junior Ellen Berlinghof (Dresher, PA/Upper Dublin) and sophomore Abby Dwyer (Stuart, FL/Jensen Beach) gave the Blue Jays the early lead with an 8-1 win at three. The win was their 12th straight and improved their record 15-1 on the season. Hopkins then took a 2-0 lead as junior Anita Bhamidipati (Egg Harbor Township, NJ/Egg Harbor Township) and sophomore Yasmine Elamir (Saddle River, NJ/Heritage Academy (SC)) beat Gabie Batista and Carrie Palmer 8-1 at second. The pair improves to 11-2 on the season with their ninth straight win. The win for Bhamidipati was the 99th total win of her career, leaving her just one win shy of becoming the second player in program history with 100 career wins. Senior Brittany Matava (Denver, CO/Littleton) and freshman Carolyn Warren (Boulder, CO/Fairview) closed out doubles play with an 8-5 win at first over Jordan Finnegan and Brittany Marshall for their 10th win of the season.
Freshman Mallory Willenborg (Miami Shores, FL/St. Thomas Aquinas) pushed Hopkins lead to 4-0 in the match with her win at third singles. She beat Kate Barston without dropping a game for her 10th straight win and 18th of the season. Matava then clinched the match and the championship for Hopkins with a 6-1, 6-0 win at fourth over Palmer. It is her 70th career singles win and brings her career total to 128 (70 singles, 58 doubles).
Hopkins earns the conference's automatic qualifier and will make its third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA will release the bracket on Monday, May 4. Stay tuned to HopkinsSports.com for the Blue Jays postseason schedule.
