Story by Mitch Blankespoor
ORLANDO, Fla. - The Kalamazoo College women's tennis team dropped the final match of its spring trip Tuesday, Mar. 25 falling to Hamilton College (N.Y.) 6-3.
"This was our first loss in a couple weeks," Kalamazoo Head Coach Mark Murphy said. "We did not play particularly well, but I give Hamilton credit. They were very aggressive."
Senior Jenna Riehl and sophomore Sarah Woods kicked things off winning first doubles 8-1. Hamilton answered with narrow victories at second doubles when sophomore Ania Latala and freshman Sabrina Dass lost 8-6.
It was Hamilton who had the luxury of a 2-1 lead after doubles as senior Kelsey Moran and junior Olivia Bouchard lost to Bella Schoning and Winnie Tang 9-8(5).
Kalamazoo did manage to tie the match 2-2 when Woods won 6-1, 6-1 at first singles. Unfortunately for the Hornets, Hamilton won the next four matches to finish and clinched the match. The closest of these came at fourth singles with Claire Keyte defeating Dass 6-3, 6-4.
Latala lost the first set 6-2 at fifth singles but rebounded to win the final two sets 6-4, 6-3 to clinch her flight.
"It was nice to see Ania [Latala] pull out her flight when the match was already decided," Murphy said. "That's a good sign for us going forward."
Despite the loss, K finishes its spring break trip with a 2-1 record having beaten Savannah College of Art and Design (Ga.) and George Fox (Or.) earlier this week.
"The goal when we go on our spring trip is to get 20 hours of court time outside," Murphy said. "We exceeded that and played three very good matches."
Kalamazoo returns home and opens up Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) play Saturday, Mar. 29 against Olivet. The match is slated to begin at 10:00 a.m.