The College of Wooster celebrated 55 years of the women's tennis program on Saturday, but Oberlin College won the North Coast Athletic Conference match, 6-1.
Oberlin (8-5, 1-3 NCAC) raced out to a quick advantage in doubles action with a 6-1 win on the third flight against senior
Willow Hernishin and sophomore
Elyse Errington. Meanwhile, the other two courts were holding steady on serve until the first-year pairing of
Sasha Riley and
Elizabeth Meiners made the first move on the first doubles court. Riley and Meiners managed a break of serve to go up 4-3 in the match and then a second break for the 6-3 win to give Wooster (6-10, 1-4 NCAC) a fighting chance.
All attention then turned to the decisive second flight where junior
Lauren Richmond and senior
Abby Williams had been holding serve in their favor. The Yeowomen made a late break, however, and served out the match for a 6-4 win and the doubles-point advantage.
Williams maintained her level of play throughout singles action, which helped secure the Scots' first point of the afternoon. The senior went for a bagel in the first set and then cruised in the second set for a 6-0, 6-2 victory in the second singles flight.
The Yeowomen ultimately clinched the match after wins in third, fifth and sixth singles. In the third flight, Riley was locked in a battle in the first set but her Oberlin opponent prevailed in the 6-4, 6-1 decision. Errington and fellow sophomore
Jade Adkins struggled as Errington fell in fifth singles 6-1, 6-0 and Adkins dropped sixth singles with a 6-1, 6-1 score.
Even though the overall match had already been decided, Meiners and Richmond continued to battle on their respective courts in the first and fourth flights. Meiners' first set went to a tiebreaker that was dominated by her Oberlin opponent.
The Yeowomen carried that momentum into the second set, winning the match 7-6 (2), 6-3. Richmond dropped her first set but then fought to win the second set, setting up a deciding 10-point match tiebreaker, which Oberlin won 6-1, 4-6, 1-0 (6).
Wooster continues its NCAC slate on the road against Kenyon College on Thursday.
