May 15, 2010
Box Score
GRANVILLE, OH - The 15th-ranked Johns Hopkins women's tennis team came just a few games shy of its first ever trip the NCAA Quarterfinals on Saturday, suffering a tough 5-2 loss to fifth-ranked Denison. The team portion of the Blue Jays' season comes to an end at 17-9 as Hopkins tied its single-season wins record. The Big Red improve to 18-4 and advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the sixth time in program history. Denison will face either Emory or Washington & Lee in the next round.
Marta Drane and Kristin Cobb gave Denison in early 1-0 lead in the match with an 8-1 win at first doubles over senior Anita Bhamidipati (Egg Harbor Township, NJ/Egg Harbor Township) and sophomore Carolyn Warren (Boulder, CO/Fairview). The Big Red then took a 2-0 lead thanks to an 8-5 win by Erin Chadwell and Kara Zdanowski over sophomore Courtney Boger (Doylestown, PA/Central Bucks East) and freshman Nandita Krishnan (Chennai, India/Sishya School) at second. Hopkins got on the board at third doubles as senior Ellen Berlinghof (Dresher, PA/Upper Dublin) and freshman Candace Wu (Yorba Linda, CA/Valencia) held off a furious rally to defeat Jane Lent and Alex Marcell, 9-8 (7-1). The loss was the first of the season for the doubles pair from Denison.
Sarah Short pushed the Big Red's lead to two with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Bhamidipati at third. The lead grew to three at 4-1 after Chadwell beat sophomore Mallory Willenborg (Miami Shores, FL/St. Thomas Aquinas) at four. Warren made it a 4-2 match however with a 7-6, 6-0 win at first over Drane. The match came down to second, fifth and sixth singles. Hopkins was ahead at fifth and sixth, but it was second that would finish first, giving Denison its fifth point of the match and the win. Cobb took the first set at second, 6-2, over Krishnan. But the Blue Jays' rookie rebounded to take the second set 6-4, forcing a third set and keeping Hopkins' hopes alive. Cobb took a 4-2 lead in the decisive set, but Krishnan battled back, taking the next two points to tie things up at 4-4. The next three points would see the two break each others serves, as Cobb took a 6-5 lead. Cobb held serve in the 12th game to clinch the win for Denison.
Berlinghof closes out her career as the winningest doubles player in program history. She finished her career with a doubles record of 77-20 (.794), surpassing All-American Brittany Matava's record by 18 wins. Berlinghof capped her career with a 15-match win streak in doubles. Overall, she finished at 53-16 (.768) in singles and 130-36 (.783) overall. Her 53 wins are good for third in school history, while her 130 total wins are second behind Matava (131). Bhamidipati's singles career at Hopkins is complete, but she will compete in the 2010 NCAA Doubles Championship at Mary Washington, May 28-30. Bhamidipati caps her singles career with a 63-24 (.724) record, ranking second in program history. Heading into the doubles championship, she is 57-27 (.678) for her career and has a combined record of 120-51 (.702).
Warren will partner with Bhamidipati at the NCAA Doubles Championship and will also compete in the singles championship. Krishnan will join Warren in the singles competition.
