Excitement ran high as the Smith played MHC

Smith College Tennis traveled to long time valley rival, Mount Holyoke College, on Tuesday, September 28 for a hard fought battle. The two teams have always been competitive with Smith earning a 41-20 advantage in the previous 61 meetings. On Tuesday; however, MHC dominated with a 7-2 match win.

The score was only part of the story. MHC took a decisive lead winning all three doubles; however, number 2 doubles of Nikki Anderson and captain Maggie Steiner from Smith managed to stave off the Lyons until the very end where they finally succumbed 9-8 (7-3 in the tiebreaker).

During singles play, one spectator remarked that "this is more exciting then any match in the US Open!" All six matches were on the court for more than 2 hours keeping the entire match in the balance. Even though MHC took the early lead, the Pioneers showed their fighting spirit by taking four of the six matches to three sets and never showing a sign of defeat. This time, Nikki Anderson and Maggie Steiner were victorious, each pulling out a three set win for Smith. Two match wins was not enough leaving Smith with a 0-3 start to the season.

The SC Tennis Team is already looking forward to their away match on Sat, Oct 2 against Babson College

Smith bows to Wheaton College

It was a beautiful afternoon in Northampton MA on Saturday, Sept 25 when Smith hosted their first home conference match against Wheaton College. Wheaton is the defending conference champions and they came ready to compete. Smith had momentary highlights but could not score enough games to claim a match. The Pioneers are on the road on Tuesday, Sept 28 against western MA rivals, Mount Holyoke College.

ITA at Babson

Four Smith tennis team members took part in the ITA (Intercollegiate Tennis Association) regional tournament on Sep17 and 18. Jaimi Inskeep and Nikki Anderson represented Smith in the singles and Clair Oblamski and Gianna Teague paired up for doubles. The tournament hosted a 64 singles draw and a 32 doubles draw with representatives from over 20 colleges. This year’s event was held at Babson and Wellesley Colleges.

The weather was less than ideal giving our players experience in patience. Once play was finally underway, it was clear that we had our work cut out for us in all matches. The point of the tournament this year was to gain needed tournament experience about the level of play in New England and to better prepare for conference play. The qualifying players shared their experiences with the rest of the team in preparation for the first home match on Saturday, Sept. 25 vs Wheaton at 1pm. We invite all who are in the area to come and cheer for Smith Tennis.

Smith Tennis Opener

Smith Tennis opened on Saturday, Sept. 11 with NEWMAC conference opponent, MIT. The Pioneers had some personal bests but suffered a 2-7 loss to the formidable MIT Beavers. The match was hosted by MIT in perfect weather conditions.

Number 2 doubles of Maggie Steiner and Nikki Anderson played their finest college doubles together on Saturday posting a significant win over Melissa Diskin and Katie O’Neal. Smith spent the greater part of pre-season preparation focusing on doubles play and it showed. The hard hitting duo dominated the match from the beginning posting an 8-2 victory.

The lone singles win for the Pioneers came at 6th singles where Eunice Zhao outlasted her opponent in a 6-2, 2-6, (10-8) match. Plagued with an ankle sprain earlier in the week, Zhao rose to the occasion on Saturday in competition.

Gianna Teague gave Melissa Diskin a challenging match that went down to the wire at number 4 singles. Gianna ended up losing in a tiebreaker (8-10) in the third set.

Both squads are slated to compete in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regional Championships next weekend. The tournament, which will be hosted by Babson and Wellesley College, is scheduled to begin on Friday and run through Sunday.