Springfield Edges Smith 4-5

The tennis match went down to the wire on Tuesday night at Springfield College as Smith and Springfield battled it out to a 5-4 win for The Pride.  Springfield President Mary Beth Cooper was in attendance as the match was finally decided in the second singles position after hours of competition. Smith had a slow start in doubles with a new partnership.  The line up change was forced when Noa Dubin was sidelined with an injury. Stepping up to the challenge at  number 1 doubles, Margaret Anne Smith played her steady game while paired with Joanna Kim. Joanna, however, could not find her strokes or the court in her doubles play that night and they lost 8-2. The new combo of Samantha Peikes and Janan Fugel played heady doubles doing what they needed to defeat Litchfield and Plazza 8-3 and giving Smith their first point of the night.  Christine Yee and Kelli Cheung were not so fortunate at third doubles allowing Etter and Freadman to control the match to an 8-3 win for the Pride.

Entering singles with a match score of 1-2, Margaret Anne Smith got down to business sizing up her opponent, Rachel Litchfield, at number 3 singles and winning 6-0, 6-1.  Toula Sierros was spraying balls this night and her brilliant ground stokes ended wide or long allowing her opponent, Emily Etter to breeze by with a 6-0, 6-1 win.  Janan Fugel , at 5 singles, fought hard but lost 6-0, 6-1 as well. Kelli Cheung anchored the 6 singles position for Smith and she showed poise, variety and control to earn a decisive victory over Nicole Plazza 6-3, 6-2.

All the while Samantha Peikes, affectionately known as Sammi, was battling it out at number 1 with Rachel London. Sam earned a Smith victory that night with her no nonsense style of play as she anticipated every move made by her opponent and moved to counter each stroke.  With one match left on court and the match score 4-4, Joanna Kim found herself with the ability to decide the outcome. After a slow start in doubles, Joanna redeemed herself in her singles play by playing an aggressive style to the finish. Having lost the first set 0-6 to Melissa Parrish at number 2 singles, Joanna dug deep holding on as she fought hard to regain momentum. It was a brilliant effort on her part but not enough to give her the victory and the Smith Pioneers walked away with a tough loss.