April 10, 2010

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - The 13th-ranked Johns Hopkins women's team won all 18 matches it played on Saturday in defeating Franklin & Marshall and Salisbury by identical 9-0 scores. The Blue Jays have now won three in a row and six of their last seven to improve to 8-7 on the season and 5-0 in the Centennial Conference. The Blue Jays last six wins have all come by 9-0 scores. The Diplomats drop to 5-7 on the season, including a 1-5 mark in the conference, while the Sea Gulls suffer just their second loss and fall to 10-2.

Against the Diplomats, the Blue Jays picked up a quick three points in doubles to take the early lead in the match. Franklin & Marshall had an injured player and therefore, defaulted at third doubles. At second, sophomore Vanessa Charubhumi (East Elmhurst, NY/Stuyvesant) and freshman Yoko Hirase (Plano, TX/Plano West) swept all eight games to beat Valeri Harteg and Katie Ertel, 8-0. Junior Abby Dwyer (Stuart, FL/Jensen Beach) and senior Ellen Berlinghof (Dresher, PA/Upper Dublin) then won at first, beating Dana Russo and Meredith Lackey, 8-2, to wrap up doubles play.

In singles action, the Diplomats defaulted at sixth and the Blue Jays swept first through fifth in straight sets to earn their 35th straight Centennial Conference win. At fourth, Charubhumi didn't drop a game in a 6-0, 6-0 win over Ertel. Freshman Louisa Drake (Riverside, CT/Kent School) repeated the feat, beating Victoria Balonik, 6-0, 6-0 at fifth. Junior Yasmine Elamir (Saddle River, NJ/Heritage Academy (SC)) dropped just two games in a 6-1, 6-1 win at third over Harteg. While freshman Ariel Several (Gladwyne, PA/Friends' Central School) also lost just two games, beating Lackey, 6-2, 6-0 at first. Ellen Berlinghof picked up her 115th career win with a 6-3, 6-2 win at second over Russo.

In the nightcap, Hopkins lost just one set in beating Salisbury for the fourth straight time. Sophomore Courtney Boger (Doylestown, PA/Doylestown) and freshman Candace Wu (Yorba Linda, CA/Valencia) lost just one game in beating Elania Iosue and Angela Tenaglia, 8-1, at third doubles. At second, freshman Nandita Krishnan (Chennai, India/Sishya School) and Ellen Berlinghof won 8-2 over Kelly Fahrner and Rachel Iosue. And at first, senior Anita Bhamidipati (Egg Harbor Township, NJ/Egg Harbor Township) and sophomore Carolyn Warren (Boulder, CO/Fairview) beat Jackie Burr and Jillian Poppe, 8-2.

In singles play, Warren took down Burr in straight sets, beating her 6-0, 6-3. Krishnan followed with a 6-1, 6-4 win at second over Rachel Iosue. Bhamidipati won her 60th career singles match at third, beating Fahrner, 6-1, 6-2. At fifth, Wu won 6-2, 6-1 over Tenaglia. Freshman Andrea Berlinghof (Dresher, PA/Upper Dublin) followed with a 6-4, 6-0 win at sixth. And at fourth, sophomore Mallory Willenborg (Miami Shores, FL/St. Thomas Aquinas) rallied for a three-set win over Poppe. She lost her first set, 6-2, to Poppe and was down 5-2 in the second set before rallying to win in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (4) and force a third set. The two played a super tiebreaker, with Willenborg coming out on top, 10-4, to earn the come-from-behind win and complete the Blue Jays sweep of the Sea Gulls.

Hopkins returns to action on Tuesday, April 14 with a crucial Centennial Conference matchup at Swarthmore. The Blue Jays (5-0) and the Garnet (5-0) are the only two unbeaten teams left in the conference. The match is slated to begin at 3:30 pm.