May 21, 2014

Box Score

Post-match Interview

CLAREMONT, CA - Third-ranked Williams swept the doubles to take an early 3-0 lead in the match before going to defeat fourth-ranked Johns Hopkins, 5-1, in the third-place match of the 2014 NCAA Championship Wednesday at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center. The Blue Jays finish their season with a school-record 24 wins. Hopkins' three loses came to teams that finished first (Emory twice) and third (Williams) at the championship. The Ephs, which had won six straight NCAA titles prior to their loss in the semifinals on Tuesday, finish the season with a 23-3 record. Al three of Williams' losses this season came to Amherst, which lost in the title match.

Rebecca Curran and Kara Shoemaker gave Williams an early 1-0 lead in the match as they beat junior Shannon Herndon and sophomore Sydney Lehman, 8-3, at first doubles. Hannah Atkinson and Linda Shin then defeated freshmen Amanda Austi and Ashnaa Rao, 8-1, at third. Kathleen Elkins and Maria Pylypiv closed out doubles play and completed the sweep for the Ephs with an 8-5 win over junior Elaine Baik and freshman Mikey Barthelmass. It was the pair's first loss since March 23, snapping a nine-match streak.

Pylypiv pushed the Ephs' lead in the match to four as she defeated Baik 6-0, 6-1 at fourth singles. Rao made it a 4-1 match, earning the Blue Jays' point, with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Elkins at third. Curran then closed out the match with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Herndon at fifth.

The season will continue for Austi as she will play in the NCAA Singles Championship, which will begin on Thursday. Austi will play sixth-seeded Megan Tang of Chicago. Her match time is still to be announced, but will not begin before 10:30 am PT on Thursday.