SMITH VS BABSON COLLEGE   4-5            

Smith Tennis traveled to Wellesley MA on Saturday, Sept. 21 to take on Babson College.  Babson, in the midst of their homecoming and inauguration activities for their new President was humming with activity.  Smith took to the courts at 1pm after a lengthy warm-up.  Eight game pro-sets in doubles is always a challenge to start with in a dual match and it proved especially difficult for Smith this day.  On paper Smith should have been competitive with Babson but after the doubles, Smith was down 0-3.  It is difficult to retain momentum after that sort of a deficit. Smith, however, took the task seriously and came back ready for the singles.  In the next three and a half hours, the Smith players battled for each point on the warm breezy afternoon.  Cami Whitney was first off the court with a 6-0, 6-0 win.  Next was Ruth Linz, who after a collision with a misplaced bench regained her composure and won 6-3,6-1.  Liz Laudeman did not fair as well and bowed to fellow Ohian 3-6, 3-6.  Joanna Wong at number 5 singles found herself against a feisty opponent, Erin Seu.  Erin took every opportunity to attack backing Joanna off the court and out of contention in the first set.  With her back against the wall in the second set at 1-4, Joanna rallied a come back but ran out of time and lost 3-6, 5-7.  Although the match was decided, the two most exciting matches were in their third sets at number 1 and 2 singles positions.  Ashley Kilgore was battling with a long time friend and competitor from junior tennis days who she had beaten regularly in the past.  Past history does not apply to the present and Ashley had to refocus and settle in after a 2-6 loss in the first set to play savvy tennis in the next two sets winning 6-4, 6-2.

Lauren Kemp remained on court long after the other matches had finished.  In a close battle with Daniela Hofer, Lauren kept her composure and her ground-strokes and outlasted the Babson player in a match that went down to the wire ending with a 7-6(7-5) tiebreaker in the third set.  Lauren’s opponent could handle Lauren’s pace and Lauren had to stay consistent with her ground-strokes and accurate with her approach shots or she found herself playing catch-up.  The momentum in the match shifted several times but Lauren outlasted Daniela to bring in the win.

Overall Babson took the match 4-5 in an exciting Saturday afternoon of tennis competition but Smith showed their  talent against the formidable Beavers.  The Pioneers play WPI at home on Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 4pm.

Important Addendum:  The overall match score including the exhibition matches was 6-6.  Elizabeth Maynard and Cami Whitney won at fourth doubles 8-3.  The two complemented each other in smart shot selection and placement to capture the win.  Ashley Green had a relatively easy singles match as she stayed focused and defeated her opponent 6-0, 6-1.  Mariel Elguero was not feeling her best as she found it hard to get the energy she needed on this day to compete.  Mariel gave her all but lost her exhibition singles.